Movie Review: Walk Hard

Carla Meyer - Sacramento Bee

Movie review: 'Walk Hard' mockumentary comes late to the parody

The musical biography formula is so powerful that it drags down even a spoof of these movies.

The silly fun of "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" starts to wear just as the poverty-fame-drugs-redemption cycle hits the inevitable hippie/psychedelic period. The same-old-story quality that "Walk Hard" sends up begins to apply to it as well.

"Walk Hard" was directed by Jake Kasdan ("Orange County") and written by Kasdan and current Hollywood comedy king Judd Apatow ("Superbad"). Like most comedies attached to Apatow, it seems about 20 minutes too long. And brevity is key to a broad parody.

The first part of the film, which pokes fun at the too-similar arcs of biopics such as "Walk the Line" and "Ray," elicits laughs if also some unease.

When a young Dewey (Conner Rayburn) and his brother play with machetes, the movie takes the family-tragedy aspect of music biopics to ridiculous extremes.

Still, it's hard to forget that the events being spoofed happened to real people.

Once John C. Reilly takes over the role as the teenage Dewey, "Walk Hard" becomes, for a stretch, irresistibly goofy fun. When Dewey performs the innocent "Take My Hand," the crowd goes nuts, the girls screaming and writhing as if this Brylcreemed lug were Elvis and the Beatles combined.

Dewey settles down with a nice girl (a delightfully dour Kristen Wiig).

But the pressure is on for these lovebirds. Marriage and parenthood have caused the teenagers to look practically middle age.

"Walk Hard" hits every rock-biopic milestone, from Dewey's revelatory audition at a Sun Records-like label to his inevitable introduction to drugs to his tortured "friendship" with good-girl backup singer Darlene, played by Jenna Fischer. (Of the movies referenced, "Walk the Line" receives the lion's share of shout-outs.)

Despite a lowbrow approach that entails broad cultural stereotypes and egregiously gratuitous male nudity, "Walk Hard" maintains at least a suggestion of class. That's mostly because of Reilly. Having gotten his Frat Pack feet wet in "Talladega Nights," the versatile supporting actor makes the most of his starring role in a big studio film.

Reilly sells the comedy by playing it straight. He sings quite well, bringing passion to performances of surprisingly good songs that stylistically traverse Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Brian Wilson, among others.

Kasdan gives the picture a polished look to go with its polished sound. A backlit scene of Dewey and Darlene on stage looks like one between Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix in "Walk the Line." Except the lyrics in "Let's Duet" (sung by Reilly and Angela Correa, and lip-synced by Fischer) consist of nothing but innuendo.

Dewey puts Darlene through the wringer with his hard walking, drinking, drugging and womanizing. Fischer, finally getting some good lighting after years on "The Office," at least gets to look especially pretty here. Game enough for the naughty moments, Fischer still looks virtuous enough to pull off her character's come-here-go-away act with Dewey.

Tim Meadows' running bit as Dewey's drummer and drug buddy is so good that you wish Kasdan and Apatow had let it stand at a few scenes. But like its protagonist, for whom aspirin probably was a gateway drug, "Walk Hard" doesn't know when to quit.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

2 1/2 stars

CAST: John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Tim Meadows, Kristen Wiig, Chris Parnell, Margo Martindale and Raymond J. Barry

DIRECTOR: Jake Kasdan

WRITERS: Kasdan, Judd Apatow

DISTRIBUTOR: Columbia

100 minutes

Rated R (sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language)

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