Rama’s SCREEN

This comedy makes fun of music biopic. It does somewhat focus on laughing at the expense of the film Walk The Line because it has… a bit of a similar storyline, especially the older brother who died and how the guilt becomes Dewey Cox’s worst demon but I think WALK HARD is not necessarily a spoof like Scary Movie and The Comebacks because instead of bringing in several diferent recognizable scenes from other movies, it actually nails a lot of things that have anything to do with Rock n’ Roll. It introduces Punk, it flirts with the weird sound of Bob Dylan’s music, it messes with all kinds of drugs that have gone through the veins of anyone who’s ever been a Rock Star.

Dewey Cox grew up in a farm with his elder brother, Nate, whom he accidentally cut in half with a machete and Dewey also lost his sense of smell. Years later Dewey becomes a successful musician but his guilt turns him into a drug addict. His father doesn’t stop blaming him for what happened in the past, Dewey has problems deciding what’s more important in life, family or fame.

The story is outrageous and ridiculous at the same time, of course you can’t expect anything less from the guys who brought us some of the best comedy films in the past 3 years or so.

Let me tell you how silly it can get, at one point you’d see Dewey Cox hangin’ with The Beatles and… Jack Black plays Paul McCartney.

There are lots of stars making cameo appearance in this film ranging from the actual musicians Lyle Lovett, Jack White and Eddie Vedder and then we see those who’ve made friends with Judd Apatow like Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill, and even established producers like director Harold Ramis (Ghostbuster, Bedazzled) and Phil Rosenthal (TV’s Everybody Loves Raymond), they play the Jewish talent scouts by the way.

A little warning, there will be many jokes based on Dewey’s last name and because for the very same reason, the movie decides to show… and I mean literally show,… penis.
Disturbingly hilarious!

Now here’s one thing that disappoints me, some of the jokes or punch lines fail to be funny. At times it feels like one SNL sketch after another… or maybe I should say, it was like a bunch of SNL sketches tied up together into one full length feature film.

Not to mention the case of overdoing something. Dewey Cox repeatedly does something that’s funny at first but not so much after being done so many times.

John C. Reilly’s acting in this movie, in my opinion, is surprisingly brilliant. I say that because even for a comedy film, you could tell why he’s an Oscar nominee (Chicago). His expressions, his singing, and the ability to show emotion, he gives it all and it’s not even an Oscar worthy movie.

I don’t think there’s anything particularly special about Jake Kasdan’s directing, I think there’s a million miles away before he ever gets close to being as great as his father, director Lawrence Kasdan (Wyatt Earp, The Big Chill)

As far as visuals go, the only part I enjoy the most is when Dewey Cox takes LSD with John Lennon and the gang and they become these cool cartoon characters prancing through a trippy world.

* Place the cursor on the picture below to check my grade for this film