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Created May 22, 2008 03:25AM PST • Edited May 22, 2008 03:25AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Really Great 4.5

   Dewey Cox (Reilly) didn’t always have it easy, especially growing up. He was very close to his brother as a kid, but accidentally cut his body in half with a machete. Particularly his father from that point on would always tell Dewey that “The wrong son died”. Dewey always had to live with the guilt of this and trying to really live his life to the fullest. Right before Dewey’s brother died, he told Dewey that he had to accomplish twice as much for the both of them. Dewey took to music very early on, being able to play the guitar and sing very well basically upon his first try. He was determined to make it as a successful musician and put everything he had in to it. After playing out a few times, people took notice. A group of Jewish men scouted him out and after a rough audition, he was taken under a recording producers wing. From then on his life changed drastically. Although, his music was controversial to some, overall he had a very high fan base. Dewey continuously played bigger shows, was touring constantly, getting his music out there, and making some good money along the way.

   Dewey might have been living his life to the fullest as a musician, but as a family man he was failing. Just as he was starting to get some recognition, he met Edith (Wing). She was so impressed with Dewey’s star quality and Dewey was so happy to have someone who seemed like she believed in him that they got married. Soon after, Edith kept on getting pregnant having kid after kid. With Dewey always being on the road though, this became very strenuous on her. Dewey doesn’t like fatherhood and just wants to take the easy way out by giving Edith money. He begins to show up at home less and less. His band gets a new group member, a lead singer named Darlene (Fischer). There is automatically a major connection between Darlene and Dewey. They become somewhat involved, but with Darlene feeling uncomfortable until they get married, Dewey soon makes Darlene his second wife. However, when both of them find out about his other wife this blows up in his face. Little did Dewey know, having more than one wife is illegal and he ends up doing jail time. This makes him realize that he needs to be a better father and to stay committed to just one woman, painting the picture that as important as stardom is to him, it isn’t everything.

4. Acting

   Perfect 5.0

   The acting was essential in Walk Hard. I am surprised in John C. Reilly; he really owned this film. The way he displayed Dewey, was with great presence and confidence in a way that he held himself high and just by his instinct was very clear about things he thought to be preposterous, sometimes unintentionally making an example of it. Reilly really showed a lot of Johnny Cash in him, especially through the singing. He sounded very similar to Cash and as if he could really be a similar artist of that genre. In a movie as silly as this one can be at times, it shows the variation of talents Reilly brought to the table, from a serious aspect to the hilarity he displayed. Jenna Fischer was charming in this, I loved seeing her innocent yet complicated personality here. Kristen Wing did a good job as well as Dewey’s first wife. Although, she didn’t have the largest part in Knocked Up, she was very funny as the mean E! associate in a very subtle way. Her role in Walk Hard was vastly different and I think she really nailed it. There is a certain level of comedy here that she exerts, but more than anything, she promoted more depth in to the story, regarding the people in Dewey’s life. There were a ton of other great featured actors in the film including Tim Meadows, Chris Parnell, Jack Black, Jonah Hill, David Krumholtz, Jason Scwartzman, Paul Rudd, Jane Lynch, Jason Long, and a forgivable but not so great appearance by Frankie Muniz.

5. Male Stars Perfect 5.0

6. Female Stars Perfect 5.0

7. Female Costars Perfect 5.0

8. Male Costars Perfect 5.0

10. Film

    Really Great 4.5

    I unfortunately, never got around to seeing Walk the Line, even though Walk Hard does a fantastic job of making fun of it, it actually made me want to see Walk the Line more. With how down hill the Scary Movie franchise went and all of the Date and Epic Movies and so on, it is very refreshing to see a spoof film done right. It took a lot from Walk the Line, but just didn’t recreate it and have that in itself be the joke. The film took a lot of facts and instances about Johnny Cash’s life. One of these things was that Cash lost his ability of hearing at a young age. So Dewey loses his sense of smell, which is such an uncommon and comedic thing given the trauma that is linked with it. A more general thing that is poked fun at is the resistance against Dewey’s music, representing almost any type of music that was innovative. When seeing Dewey’s first performance, you almost want to laugh, because it looks so tame and almost overly so. Yet people turned against Dewey, especially priests saying that it was satanic. When singing a song called, “Hold My Hand”, the priest claims that this is referring to holding the devil’s hand. It is just an example of the littlest things being misconstrued, to be depicted as evil so there can be no room for difference or bringing anything new to the world. Not everything is mocked in the movie either. One of Dewey’s first bigger shows is when he performs with Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly, which Cash really did before any of them became as big of stars that they ended up being. Honestly, I should have known of Walk Hard’s potential with Jake Kasdan and Judd Apatow as the writers. They have created great work together in the past with Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. Kasdan did very well with his direction in Orange County and Judd Apatow has created, directed, and written so many comedic gems like no others, that he is pretty much the king of the creation aspect of comedy. The script to Walk Hard was very funny in so many ways. It has that out there humor that makes things seem so off the wall. However, there was enough story and development to give the viewer compassion for the characters. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is a movie that really takes hold on you, letting you witness the mockery at its’ best with comedy in the most unexpected yet hilarious places.

11. Direction Really Great 4.5

12. Play Really Great 4.5

13. Music Really Great 4.5

14. Visuals Really Great 4.5
15. Content

16. Edge

    Tame 1.2

    There are some sex scenes, but it is pretty tame.

17. Sex Innocent 1.2

18. Violence Gentle 1.2

19. Rudeness Polite 1.2

21. Reality

    Glib 1.1

    Well it is a spoof so it isn’t supposed to be realistic. However, there are a lot of instances from Cash’s life that were taken in to account and then represented through Dewyey’s life, using facts in an comical way.

22. Circumstantial Glib 1.1

23. Biological Glib 1.1

24. Physical Glib 1.1