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MOVIES / ON DVD / WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

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Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)

74%
62%
73%
N/A
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N/A
74 %
Reviews Counted: 132 Fresh: 98  Rotten:34 Average Rating: 6.5/10
 
Consensus: A parody with stellar performances and clever original music. A parody that pokes fun at rock stars and reductive biopics alike, this comedy sings in large part because of stellar performances and clever original music. more
 
Rated: 15
Runtime: 3 hrs 36 mins
Theatrical Release: 18-01-2008
Synopsis:
Somewhere between pitch-perfect parodies from Christopher Guest and Co. (such as THIS IS SPINAL TAP and A MIGHTY WIND) and slapstick spoofs (such as AIRPLANE and the NAKED GUN) resides the farcical biopic WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY. Taking the critically lauded Johnny Cash biopic WALK... [More]
Somewhere between pitch-perfect parodies from Christopher Guest and Co. (such as THIS IS SPINAL TAP and A MIGHTY WIND) and slapstick spoofs (such as AIRPLANE and the NAKED GUN) resides the farcical biopic WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY. Taking the critically lauded Johnny Cash biopic WALK THE LINE as its most obvious inspiration, WALK HARD plows its way through every rock star cliché--from drug use and rampant sex to artistic self-indulgence and spiritual redemption--laying waste to all of them with unremitting blasts of brilliantly lowbrow comedy. Written by Judd Apatow and starring Jon C. Reilly in the title role, WALK HARD is a deliciously basic synthesis of any number of ponderous biographical narratives with the poetic raunchiness of Apatow films, such as SUPERBAD and KNOCKED UP, and the most lovably inane aspects of Reilly's role as Cal Naughton Jr. in TALLEDEGA NIGHTS. In fact, fans will have a blast spotting the endless array of cameos by the gifted comic actors who pepper all of those films, including Jonah Hill, Kristin Wiig, Ed Helms, and Jack McBrayer, among many others. Although Reilly (whose comedic chops are nearly on par with his skills as a dramatic player) is hilarious as the hapless rock-&-roll icon Cox, and Jenna Fischer is utterly charming and slyly multifaceted as Darlene Madison (June to Dewey's Johnny), it's the ensemble cast that makes the film so much fun. WALK HARD is the cinematic equivalent of a rock-&-roll jam session: a basic, yet entertaining and fairly interesting idea gets tossed into the creative arena and everyone gets a chance to play along, riff on the idea, and mug for the camera. Though it's certainly no masterwork, fans will relish the good times as much as the actors so clearly do. [Less]

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Starring: John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Tim Meadows, Kristen Wiig

Director: Jake Kasdan
Screenwriter: Judd Apatow, Jake Kasdan
Producer: Judd Apatow, Jake Kasdan, Clayton Townsend
Composer: Michael Andrews

DVD Info

Release:

Aug 4, 2008

[DVD Details]

Blu-ray Features:

  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai
  • Subtitles - English, French, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai - Optional

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image

This biopic rocks - well, the first half does.

Full Review | Comment
01/18/08 09:59 AM
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]
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Another comedy winner; if you have to ask why, it’s because it involves the Knocked Up guy. Hilarious – even the Beatles bit, this looks set to be a hit.

Full Review | Comment
01/18/08 09:53 AM
Nev Pierce
Total Film
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The end of a golden run for Judd Apatow.

Full Review | Comment
01/18/08 09:37 AM
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph
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Some laughs, but you expect more from Apatow.

Full Review | Comment
01/18/08 09:34 AM
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
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A dismal indulgence.

Full Review | Comment
01/18/08 09:24 AM
James Christopher
Times [UK]
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Knocked up hurriedly, you feel, in between Apatow's other projects, Walk Hard is the feted writer-producer's first fumble. As Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel might have put it, this one only goes to two-and-a-half.

Full Review | Comment
01/18/08 08:59 AM
Jon Fortgang
Channel 4 Film
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Reilly, one of our best supporting actors graduating to star status, finally bound for glory.

Full Review | Comment
01/18/08 08:45 AM
Nev Pierce
BBC
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Ratings Image

The one area where ‘Walk Hard’ does manage to hold its own against classics of the genre such as ‘This is Spinal Tap’ or ‘Sweet and Lowdown’ is the music, all of which is expertly written and performed.

Full Review | Comment
01/18/08 08:16 AM
David Jenkins
Time Out
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John C Reilly just about holds together a funny but patchy comedy that puts a ten-megaton bomb under the cliched rock biopic – and never detonates it.

Full Review | Comment
01/18/08 07:55 AM
Damon Wise
Empire Magazine
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... starts out brilliantly playing with the tired tropes of musical biopics before utterly losing its way.

Full Review | Comment
05/01/08 04:13 PM
Alonso Duralde
MSNBC
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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.

Full Review | Comment
04/23/08 07:18 PM
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
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Walk Hard brings the funny and a keen observational sense

Full Review | Comment
04/17/08 06:19 PM
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central
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fantastic fun

Full Review | Comment
04/09/08 05:52 PM
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
sbs.is
Ratings Image

John C. Reilly does Dewey Cox as a hilarious stoner, beer gut middle-aged teen, with a touch of Imus. Move over, Britney Spears.

Full Review | Comment
04/05/08 02:44 PM
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze
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Como sátira às inúmeras e formulaicas cinebiografias de músicos célebres, o filme funciona maravilhosamente bem. Pena que recaia com tanta freqüência na paródia, que peca por um exagero que embaraçaria até mesmo o trio Zucker-Abraham-Zucker.

| Comment
03/26/08 06:29 AM
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
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a perfect storm of incompetent idiocy that might kill off mockumentaries altogether.

Full Review | Comment
03/17/08 05:54 PM
Matt Kelemen
Las Vegas CityLife
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The entire film has three repetitive jokes: Dewey cut his brother in half, Dewey can't smell, and he's going to take drugs. So it's kind of amazing how well the film works.

Full Review | Comment
03/04/08 09:54 AM
Jeff Bayer
Daily Herald (IL)
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Walk Hard is not making a mockery of the music or the musicians. It only playfully takes the teases the filmmakers and the conventions that have developed in telling these tortured artists' stories. It's only Matinee price because it is occasionally a l

Full Review | Comment
02/16/08 10:58 AM
Karina Montgomery
Cinerina
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You'll laugh hard during "Walk Hard."

Full Review | Comment
02/09/08 07:07 PM
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)
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In many ways outrageous %u2013 but not outrageous for long enough %u2013 Walk Hard has tremendous appeal and entertainment value

Full Review | Comment
01/17/08 10:55 PM
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