Review of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) by Viet N — 15 Jul 2012

Eddie Vedder: If Elvis and Buddy Holly are the Cain and Abel of rock and roll, Bruce Springsteen is Zachariah, Iggy Pop is Methuselah, and, of course, Neil Young is the wise prophet Ezekiel, then what does that make Dewey Cox? .

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

I absolutely love Walk Hard, and I always have. I saw this on opening night and since then I've probably watched it at least 20 times. It's one of those movies my friends and I used to always watch when we got stoned and/or drunk. I still think it is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. It's a perfect spoof of the musician biography film. We see references to Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Elvis, The Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and countless more. This is a music lovers film.

We see the rise and fall and rise and fall of Dewey Cox from when he is a young boy and cut his brother in half to his final live appearance ever. In between he enjoys everything a rock star does. He gets into drugs and goes to rehab not once, but twice. He fucks every girl he can. He gets married and divorced twice. He has over thirty children. His life is a mess as he falls from stardom, but don't worry. Every fallen hero gets his chance at redemption and Dewey Cox is no different. .

The humor on this one is mostly lowbrow stuff, but there is some smart comedy in it if you get the jokes. Judd Apatow writes an amazing script here using movies like Walk the Line and Ray as inspiration for mimicry. The use of stars throughout the film is hilarious. They present them in the exact way people perceive them to be. Ringo is always wanting to do LSD. Elvis is eccentric and full of himself. Buddy Holly is a real nice guy. This has its music history down pat. I especially loved the small glimpse of The Big Bopper doing a set. .

From start to finish, this is a comedy I adore. The fact that I still laugh at 90% of this films jokes after numerous viewings goes to show just how funny the film is. I must say John C. Reilly is perfect in this role. I couldn't think of anyone who could have done it better or funnier. He's absolutely perfect.