Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Jake Kasdan

Writers (WGA):

Judd Apatow (written by) &
Jake Kasdan (written by)

Release Date:

21 December 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Music

Tagline:

Life made him tough. Love made him strong. Music made him hard.

Plot:

Singer Dewey Cox overcomes adversity to become a musical legend.

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Drugs | Elvis | Musician | Spoof

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Nat Faxon	...	Awards Show Stage Manager
John C. Reilly	...	Dewey Cox
Tim Meadows	...	Sam
Conner Rayburn	...	Dewey - Age 8
Chip Hormess	...	Nate
Raymond J. Barry	...	Pa Cox
Terrence Beasor	...	Country Doctor
Margo Martindale	...	Ma Cox
Honeyboy Edwards	...	Old Bluesman (as David Honeyboy Edwards)
Gerry Black	...	Harmonica Player
Aron Johnson	...	Teenage Band
Jack Donovan Saperstein	...	Teenage Band (as Jack Saperstein)
Taylor Hubert	...	Teenage Band (as Taylor Jamison Hubert)
Christopher Hurt	...	Teenage Band
Matt Price	...	MC

Also Known As:

Walk Hard (USA) (short title)
Walk Hard: American Cox, the Unbearably Long, Self-Indulgent Director's Cut (USA) (director's cut)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language.

Runtime:

96 min | 120 min (extended edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Ireland:16 | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R13 | Netherlands:16 | UK:15 | Germany:12 | Italy:VM14 | Sweden:11 | Philippines:R-18 | South Africa:16 | Singapore:R21 | Ireland:15 (DVD rating) | Argentina:16 | Iceland:12 (DVD rating) | Iceland:14

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Apatow Productions

Trivia:

Famous musicians that are spoofed by Dewey Cox are: Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, David Bowie, Queen, Meatloaf, David Crosby, Jim Morrison, Harry Chapin, Don McLean, Elvis Presley, The Cars, The Ramones, Nelly, Tim McGraw, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys during his "SMILE" album period and lastly Stevie Wonder's loss of smell, after his 1973 car crash.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Darlene is talking to Dewey about quitting the LSD in the studio, Sabian drum cymbals are clearly seen in the background. This scene was supposed to take place in the 1960s; the company was not founded until 1980.

Quotes:

Nate: I'm cut in half pretty bad.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Dont Look Back (1967)

Soundtrack:

You Don't Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show)

Wait and see

I just got back from round two with this film. "Walk Hard' the second go around made me laugh, but alas I don't think it is a comedy classic. It is however very funny especially if you know your rock music history and have seen a fair amount of music biopics.

Director Jake Kasdan continues his streak of making films that seem to be made for me, ie The Zero Effect and The T.V. Set (except Orange County which just sucked) Kasdan, bless his soul, isn't interested in making comedies that appeal to a broad audience. I find his movies very refreshing and pretty darn witty. Walk Hard continues the tradition. This time however, he does have Judd Apatow helping out. So "Walk Hard" is rife with all sorts of lowbrow humour as well. All of it is pretty funny. The film has lulls, but in this day and age of lazy spoofs like "Scary Movie" I can forgive them.

John C. Reilly nails this performance. He plays the movie silly (it is a very silly movie) yet his character still feels pretty genuine.

That genuine aspect probably makes the movie work for me. The songs are good. Kasdan and Apatow obviously have a love for the material. It's good that contemporary film makers are taking cues from Brooks and the Zucker brothers and showing a lot of love for the material while spoofing it. Something that other spoof movies fail at miserably.

So all in all...if you are a fan of all sorts of music.. Beatles to Beach Boys to Punk Rock...you just gotta see this movie

For everyone else...still pretty darn funny end kdc