I can't believe it took ten years for me to finally see Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Was it worth the wait? Probably not. This has Judd Apatow's fingerprints all over it, having co-written the script and served as producer. Long story short....overall it's awfully silly. I was hoping for a little bit more substance or bite, but that isn't to say it's awful. Walk Hard has some very funny moments, and that would include the Beatles segment which I found quite amusing. I'll admit quite a bit of the music was actually pretty good, including the duets with Darlene (Jenna Fischer). On the other hand, the grand finale number was a big flop in my book, and did we really need all those scenes with Dewey in his underwear? Fans of Judd Apatow's "sensibility" may like this more than I did.

Rather than point out what others have done well, I just want to add that the editing on this film is first rate. There are many good comedies that have lots of great scenes punctuated by not-so-good stuff. Marx Brothers films come to mind - classics without doubt, but stretches where you can go get a beer and not miss much; and most of the parody films of the last 20 years. Walk Hard doesn't let up. There's hardly twenty seconds without a whack to the funny bone. It may be just a raised eyebrow or a near-throwaway line that just happens to be perfectly placed. If there's a rating for Jokes Per Minute (JPM), this movie is one of the alltime best. And as a musician, this for me is one of the two best music business parodies of all time, the other, of course, being Spinal Tap. It takes superior intelligence to know how to be supremely silly, and this movie has it!

In 1946 Springberry, Alabama, Dewey Cox accidentally chop his brother Nate in half with a machete. As a teenager, Dewey (John C. Reilly) gains local success but he's condemned for playing Satan music. His father kicks him out leaving with his 12 year old girlfriend Edith (Kristen Wiig). It's hard. It's a long, hard walk. He will Walk Hard.It's a fun mockbio. It's mostly sharp deadpan comedy. John C. Reilly is great. It spoofs all the big clichés. Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan skewered the music bio genre with this script. It's just great and nothing is off limits. It's not over the top spoof like the Abrahams and Zucker or worst the Wayans. Reilly is playing Dewey Cox almost straight but just dumb. The ridiculous stuff happens to him. It may hit wrong for the audience because they're expecting wild ridiculous spoof. It's a little different than that.

I have watched this film several times. I even own the extended cut which runs for 2 hours. The comedy lacks any subtlety. But that is intentional. A musical journey starting from the time of Robert Johnson to Eddie Vedder, despite the spoofs, the film makes an homage to all music genres and all artists who lived their time. The bold 50s, the crazy 60s, the drug riddled 70s, you could call this an American version of This is spinal tap but they are both completely original and different films. The songs are good, with great lyrics and the final song "A beautiful ride" always manages to bring a lump in my throat. Of course, this film isn't for everyone. You need to cultured sensibility to make sense of and appreciate the humor.