Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Runtime: 95min 53secsTagline: Life made him tough.
Love made him strong.
Music made him hard.
Screenplay by: Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan
Directed by: Jake Kasdan
Plot Outline:
It is the up-and-down-and-up-again story of a fictional musician Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly), whose songs would change a nation. What begins with the tragic loss of a brother at a young age, followed by the hatred of a father who thinks the wrong son died, to the banishing of the young boy, away to other lands, for his devil-music, the story soon becomes that of a new-found talent and his rockin' and-a rollin' adventures around the country.
On his rock 'n roll spiral, Cox sleeps with 411 women, marries three times, has 22 kids and 14 step-kids, stars in his own 70s TV show, collects friends ranging from Elvis to the Beatles to a chimp, and gets addicted to - and then kicks - every drug known to man; but despite it all, Cox grows into a national icon and eventually learns the true worth of everything in his life, he only then earns the true love of a good woman.
Overall Impressions:
My expectations for this film were minimal. I don't know much about Johnny Cash, I didn't even watch Walk the Line, but a film made by the guys that brought about Superbad had my curiosity peaked.
I read the below about it and realised there's probably a lot of referencing here that will be just wasted upon me, but it still added to my curiosity: One of the pervasive themes of the film is the fact that he accidentally cut his brother in half at the waist when he was a child (a reference to Johnny Cash's older brother Jack, who was almost cut in half by a table saw and died from his injuries) This causes his father to frequently repeat the phrase "The Wrong Kid Died"
So I watched it and the important thing is all references taken into consideration, me as an average ignorant viewer didn't feel neglected by it. Whatever referencing there was, it still entertained. It was funny, very funny and this 'naturally' is its strength.
John C. Reilly is one of the actors I know I've seen around but to-date was a pretty forgettable guy. He was the guy in the background somewhere doing his background thing, but here it's him that is totally the show-stealer. His character here felt as though it may have been written for Will Ferrell, that said I'm not disappointed that it wasn't Will Ferrell. As much as I loved films like Anchorman, there are moments where he can go 'too' far. John C. Reilly here has done a great job at keeping the cap on the bottle. It's just right.
The humour kicks off at the very beginning as young Dewey and his perfect brother go out to play. (The result being the brother becoming two pieces of carrion.) Following his brother's dying wish Dewey realises he must do better for the world for the both of them. Admittedly the humour will be an acquired taste, but it only escalates uphill through and through. I was left in tears by the end of this.
Overall, It's a silly film, there's no doubt about that, but it's full of so many laugh-out-loud moments. For fans of that particular Will Ferrell brand of humour, this is a must. If not, you may give it a miss, emphasis on 'may'.
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