Director – Jake Kasdan.
Cast – John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Raymond J. Barry and Margo Martindale.
The latest comedy from the Judd Apatow stable, Walk Hard maintains the same style and feel as The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. It's an affectionate parody of the music biography genre although it focuses mainly on Walk The Line and to a lesser extent Ray.
The story centers on the life of Dewey Cox, a boy happily growing up in a farming family with his parents and angelic, child prodigy brother. Their lives are changed utterly when Dewey manages to accidentally chop his brother in half while they are having a play machete fight in their father's barn. Dewey is constantly reminded that, "the wrong kid died" by his father until he brings more shame upon the family by inflicting rock and roll, the devil’s music, onto their rural community. This is the final straw for Pa Cox and he banishes his son forever.
We know exactly what we're getting with Walk Hard. There is nothing new here and the storyline is deliberately predictable as the whole point of the film is to poke fun at a specific genre. So in order to hold our interest the two elements that need to shine are the script and the actors. Luckily enough, they do. John C. Reilly enjoys every minute of playing the childlike Dewey taking him from the age of 14 right up to his seventies. Seeing a 42 year-old John C. Reilly play a 14 year-old boy is pleasantly surreal. Being an accomplished musician in his own right (he has supported Aimee Mann in the past) meant that he could perform his own vocals in Walk Hard.
Jenna Fischer, who plays Pam in the amazing American Office TV series, plays Dewey’s second wife Darlene. This is her highest profile role to date and she lends her own natural ease to it. She brings a glistening innocence to the role and the chemistry between the two leads is convincing. In fact the cast is perfect right down to the dozens of cameo’s sprinkled throughout. Keep an eye out for more stars from The American Office and Thirty Rock and also Harold Ramis, Jonah Hill and Frankie Muniz. On Dewey’s trip to India he bumps into The Beatles who are played by Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Justin Long and Jason Schwartzman. Paul Rudd’s attempt at John Lennon’s accent is fantastically bad! Elvis Presley turns up too and is played by, of all people, Jack White from The White Stipes!?!
Unfortunately Walk Hard is not perfect and is occasionally a victim of it’s own earnest predictability. The middle section is slightly saggy and some of the recurring jokes lose their luster after a while. It’s not going to change the world but Walk Hard is escapism at it’s absolute best.
Cast – John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Raymond J. Barry and Margo Martindale.
The latest comedy from the Judd Apatow stable, Walk Hard maintains the same style and feel as The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. It's an affectionate parody of the music biography genre although it focuses mainly on Walk The Line and to a lesser extent Ray.
The story centers on the life of Dewey Cox, a boy happily growing up in a farming family with his parents and angelic, child prodigy brother. Their lives are changed utterly when Dewey manages to accidentally chop his brother in half while they are having a play machete fight in their father's barn. Dewey is constantly reminded that, "the wrong kid died" by his father until he brings more shame upon the family by inflicting rock and roll, the devil’s music, onto their rural community. This is the final straw for Pa Cox and he banishes his son forever.
We know exactly what we're getting with Walk Hard. There is nothing new here and the storyline is deliberately predictable as the whole point of the film is to poke fun at a specific genre. So in order to hold our interest the two elements that need to shine are the script and the actors. Luckily enough, they do. John C. Reilly enjoys every minute of playing the childlike Dewey taking him from the age of 14 right up to his seventies. Seeing a 42 year-old John C. Reilly play a 14 year-old boy is pleasantly surreal. Being an accomplished musician in his own right (he has supported Aimee Mann in the past) meant that he could perform his own vocals in Walk Hard.
Jenna Fischer, who plays Pam in the amazing American Office TV series, plays Dewey’s second wife Darlene. This is her highest profile role to date and she lends her own natural ease to it. She brings a glistening innocence to the role and the chemistry between the two leads is convincing. In fact the cast is perfect right down to the dozens of cameo’s sprinkled throughout. Keep an eye out for more stars from The American Office and Thirty Rock and also Harold Ramis, Jonah Hill and Frankie Muniz. On Dewey’s trip to India he bumps into The Beatles who are played by Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Justin Long and Jason Schwartzman. Paul Rudd’s attempt at John Lennon’s accent is fantastically bad! Elvis Presley turns up too and is played by, of all people, Jack White from The White Stipes!?!
Unfortunately Walk Hard is not perfect and is occasionally a victim of it’s own earnest predictability. The middle section is slightly saggy and some of the recurring jokes lose their luster after a while. It’s not going to change the world but Walk Hard is escapism at it’s absolute best.
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