Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

2007

Directed by Jake Kasdan

Welcome back to Movie Monday, where we’re continuing our journey through my personal list of the 100 worst movies I’ve ever seen. Today we’re looking at #70 on the list: 2007’s Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Before we dive in, let me remind you that this list is entirely based on my subjective opinion. One person’s trash can be another person’s treasure, and judging by this film’s cult following, quite a few people consider this particular movie to be cinematic gold. I’m just not one of them.

Let’s start with the basics: Walk Hard is a parody of musical biopics, primarily targeting films like Walk the Line and Ray. If you’ve seen either of those films, you’ll recognize the familiar beats: troubled childhood, rise to fame, substance abuse, redemption arc – it’s all here, just cranked up to eleven and played for laughs. The film stars John C. Reilly as Dewey Cox, a fictional musician whose life story manages to incorporate practically every music biopic cliché known to mankind.

The Story (Or What Passes for One)

The film opens with young Dewey accidentally cutting his brother in half with a machete – yes, you read that correctly – and spirals into increasingly absurd territory from there. This childhood trauma causes Dewey to lose his sense of smell (because why not?) and sets him on a path toward musical stardom. What follows is a greatest hits compilation of biopic tropes: early marriage, meteoric rise to fame, drug addiction, affairs, more drug addiction, experimental period with the Beatles, even more drug addiction, and finally, redemption.

Why It Doesn’t Work (For Me)

Here’s the thing about parodies: they’re incredibly difficult to get right. For every Airplane! or Young Frankenstein, there are dozens of movies that mistake reference-making for actual comedy. Walk Hard, unfortunately, falls into this latter category more often than not.

The film certainly knows its source material. Director Jake Kasdan and producer Judd Apatow clearly watched every music biopic they could get their hands on. The problem is that knowing your source material isn’t the same as crafting effective satire. Much of the humor feels like it’s playing to the lowest common denominator, relying on the audience to simply recognize what’s being parodied rather than offering genuine insight or clever commentary.

John C. Reilly, talented as he is (and he is genuinely talented – he actually performs all of Dewey’s songs), seems caught between playing the role straight and going for broad comedy. This inconsistent tone plagues the entire film. Are we supposed to care about Dewey’s journey, or are we just here for the jokes? The movie never quite seems to decide.

The Celebrity Cameos

One bright spot (or dark spot, depending on your perspective) is the film’s approach to casting celebrities as other celebrities. Jack White appears as Elvis Presley, while Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Justin Long, and Jason Schwartzman show up as the Beatles. These deliberately miscast cameos are clearly meant to be part of the joke, but like much of the film’s humor, they feel more like a nudge-nudge-wink-wink “get it?” moment than actually funny comedy.

The Music

I’ll give credit where it’s due: the original songs in Walk Hard are surprisingly well-crafted. From the Roy Orbison-styled title track to the Bob Dylan parody complete with deliberately obtuse lyrics (“The mouse with the overbite explained how the rabbits were ensnared” is actually kind of brilliant), the music department clearly did their homework. The songs manage to both capture and lampoon their target genres effectively.

The Cult Following

Despite my feelings about the film, Walk Hard has developed a significant cult following since its release. Initially a box office disappointment (earning only $20 million against a $35 million budget), the movie has found its audience over the years. Many praise its commitment to the bit, its attention to detail in parodying specific moments from famous biopics, and John C. Reilly’s dedicated performance.

And you know what? That’s perfectly fine. Sometimes movies find their people long after their theatrical run, and clearly Walk Hard has connected with viewers who appreciate its particular brand of humor more than I do.

Final Thoughts

At #70 on my worst movies list, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story isn’t the most egregious offender we’ll encounter in this series. It’s not actively painful to watch, and it occasionally lands a genuinely funny moment. The problem is that it represents a broader issue I have with many parody films: the tendency to mistake reference-making for cleverness, and exaggeration for satire.

The film certainly has its defenders, and they’re not wrong to enjoy it. Comedy is perhaps the most subjective genre of all, and what makes one person laugh might leave another cold. Walk Hard left me cold more often than not, but I can at least appreciate the craftsmanship that went into its music and John C. Reilly’s committed performance.

If you’re a fan of broad parody films or music biopics, you might find more to love here than I did. The film certainly knows its source material inside and out, and it’s clear that everyone involved was fully committed to the bit. But if, like me, you prefer your comedy with a bit more subtlety and your parody with a sharper edge, you might want to walk on by this one.

Next week will be the first Monday of the month, so we’ll take a break from my worst movies list and take a look at our next animated Disney film. Until then, keep watching movies – even the ones I hate. Sometimes discovering why you disagree with a critic can be just as fun as finding out why you agree with them.