One might consider the music biopic to be a formulaic and easy genre to produce. Of course, it’s an incredibly expensive genre, what with song licences and massive stadium sets to construct, but on paper, the structure feels incredibly similar. A music biopic will usually follow a rags-to-riches story of a famous musician who uses unconventional methods to push the medium towards another direction which leads to drug addiction, alcoholism and nymphomania, before they eventually hit rock bottom and are offered a chance at a comeback album or tour. Of course, there are films that differ from the formula, like ‘Sid And Nancy’ for instance, which follows Sid Vicious’s dependence on drugs and ending with his brutal murder of Nancy Spungen, his girlfriend. However, for every film like ‘Sid And Nancy’, there seems to be 10 films like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Walk The Line’ and ‘Rocketman’, which make a film like ‘Walk Hard’ necessary.
‘Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story’ is a criminally underrated parody of the glamorized representations of legendary musicians. There are moments in biopics that feel forced, with the intent to earn a smirk from the audience, and ‘Walk Hard’ relishes those moments, poking fun at them so hard, John C Reilly might as well have just pantsed all of the filmmakers. One of the most obvious of those moments lies in Clint Eastwood’s ‘Jersey Boys’, as the band teleports onstage after the boys watch a film which shows Kirk Douglas slapping a woman. Tommy says ‘Watch, I betcha she’ll cry’ to which Bob Crewe replies, “No, big girls don’t cry”. Unsurprisingly, this is one of the recurring jokes ‘Walk Hard’ uses.
Dewey Cox is only 6 years old when he cuts his brother Nate in half during a machete fight, which inspires him to become “double-great” for the pair of them. Nate’s death serves as a major source of inspiration as Dewey pursues his dream of becoming the greatest rock and roll musician of all time. Along the way, he becomes tempted by drugs and alcohol, as well as seductive choir-girl Darlene who unknowingly becomes his mistress. Dewey hits all the milestones of a famous musician; jail, rehab, pursuit of happiness and the masterpiece that may never come. Dewey Cox must get clean for good, right the wrongs in his life and get his talent back if he has any hope of being forever remembered.
John C Reilly plays Dewey Cox and proves with this that he can hold his own as a film’s lead actor. While Reilly nails every joke, I can’t help but feel he’s still replaceable as the lead. Reilly is a tremendous comic actor, but his style feels interchangeable with that of Will Ferrell’s (made all the more evident in ‘Step Brothers’). Don’t get me wrong, Reilly is beyond brilliant as Dewey, but it’s just too easy to imagine Ferrell in the same role. Jenna Fischer plays Darlene and wonderfully pokes fun at Reece Witherspoon from ‘Walk The Line’. Witherspoon was such a darling as June Carter but the pinch of sexuality she brought to that performance is comically exaggerated here. Unfortunately, that’s the only source of comedy for Darlene, though Fischer still does a great job as a straight man to Reilly. Behind the two leads stands an incredible supporting cast. Tim Meadows plays Sam, Dewey’s drug-addicted drummer who always tries to stray Dewey away from narcotics despite making a convincing case for them. Raymond J. Barry is definitely my favourite of the lesser-seen characters, popping up now and then to remind Dewey that “the wrong kid died!” mirroring Robert Patrick in ‘Walk The Line’. Finally, Kristen Wiig plays Edith, Dewey’s first wife who is always telling Dewey he’ll never make it, even after he lands two songs at the top of the charts.
Just like in music biopics, ‘Walk Hard’ has more than its fair share of cameos and portrayals of other musicians. My two favorites of the film have to be Jack White as Elvis Presley (“That’s ka-ra-te, man. Only two kinds of people know it: the Chinese and the King. One of them’s me.”) and Paul Rudd as John Lennon (“Hey, everyone! I’ve got a brand new mantra! Omm, Paul’s a big, fat c**t!). These appearances always get a laugh out of me and pop into my mind daily.
So if you’re looking for an underrated parody film starring some of the best comic actors, co-written by one of the best comedy directors (the one and only Judd Apatow), I cannot recommend ‘Walk Hard’ enough.
Mason’s Top 3 Reasons to Watch ‘Walk Hard’
- A fantastic catchy soundtrack that works even unironically
- Jokes spanning all genres in music history
- A relieving anti-biopic that assures you that you aren’t the only person seeing the flaws in cinema these days