Walk Hard really ought to come with a warning label aimed squarely at solemn folks who adore Johnny Cash, admire the bio-pic about Cash, Walk the Line, and don’t like having their favourites mocked. Because this movie mocks. Non-stop for 96 minutes. It’s as if the writing team of Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, The 40 Year Old Virgin) and Jake Kasdan (Zero Effect, Orange County) sat down with a copy of Walk the Line and challenged themselves to have as much fun with it as they possibly could. And while the results are wildly uneven, there’s enough here to make the results fun for viewers as well.
While the inspiration here clearly is the Cash movie, Kasdan (who also directs and co-produces) and Apatow (who also co-produces) also allow themselves to wander into the territory of other pop music biographies. So much so that it sometimes seems that Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly) has more in common with Forrest Gump than he does with Johnny Cash. Yes, despite a disturbingly slight amount of talent, Dewey finds himself stumbling upon just about every pop music icon of the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s – including the Beetles (Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Jason Schwartzman and Justin Long clearly are enjoying themselves in their goofy cameos).
The story follows Dewey from prior to his childhood inspiration through his gradual rise to country/ pop stardom (bumping into Elvis and Buddy Holly among others on his way), numerous trials and tribulations (romantic, drug-related and so on), and eventual redemption. Like Walk the Line, the story is told through flashback.
To fully appreciate Walk Hard, and not be inclined to immediately dismiss it as pure stupidity (which it often is, quite intentionally), you really do need to see Walk the Line first. If you don’t, then you’re going to miss a sizeable chunk of the humour. Sort of like watching an impressionist imitate someone you’re not familiar with. Not especially funny.
Reilly carries this movie almost entirely on his shoulders, from the moment he first appears, (ridiculously) as a pre-pubescent Dewey, through to the movie’s end. One of Reilly’s greatest strengths is his ability to seem authentic in a wide range of roles, an asset that’s truly put to the test by this intentionally ridiculous role as a buffoonish music star whose total lack of talent never seems to get in his way.
Reilly is hilarious in a most sincere way, but he’s dragged down frequently by material that swings wildly from inspired to almost embarrassingly off-the-mark. Essentially, this is a long series of vignettes, each of which stands alone almost as well as they fit together as a single story. The best of them are the subtlest, while some of those with the broadest humour don’t work nearly as well. Not since Monty Python and the Holy Grail have we seen so many characters carrying on conversations after having limbs severed, not to mentions bodies sliced in half.
While Walk Hard has about as much deep meaning as the Dewey Cox-penned song name that serves as its title, that hardly matters, as long as you can get into the vibe of this silly comedy, which is peppered with numerous inane songs, again many of them messing around with Johnny Cash’s more serious originals.
It’s awfully uneven, sometimes not funny at all, but Reilly is so goofily sincere and Kasdan and Apatow include enough comedic gems to make this a worthwhile film – at least for those who are fans of Walk the Line, and don’t take themselves too terribly seriously.
Awfully uneven, sometimes not funny at all, but John C. Reilly is so goofily sincere and Jake Kasdan and Judd Apatow include enough comedic gems to make it worthwhile.- Brian Webster
