(2007, 120 min [Director's Cut]) This fitfully amusing biopic parody attempts to walk the line between outlandish comedy and understated in-character tribute, but comes up a bit short on both counts. Still, there are enough good one liners and surprisingly catchy songs to draw comparisons to Top Secret! and its minor cult following.
Admittedly, the version I viewed is dubbed the "Unbearably long, self-indulgent director's cut," and it doesn't seem to be edited with the care and precision expected of comic experts like writer/director Jake Kasdan and cowriter Judd Apatow. Additionally much of the comedy is of the SNL repeat-a-gag-endlessly variety, which grows old after two hours. A recurring motif is of stating the glaringly obvious, with self-reflexive lines like "This is a dark period!" and "Let's go play machete fight. Ain't no terrible tradgedy's gonna happen today!" Repetitive gags, including the ripping out of sinks and Tim Meadows declaring "You don't want none of this shit" referring to, successively, pot, cocaine, pills and Viagra, also vary in effectiveness.
But the songs are where Walk Hard shines, running the gamut of styles from Buddy Holly to Bob Dylan to Brian Wilson. When John C. Reilly straps on his guitar, you can almost believe that Dewey Cox existed... at least until the gratuitious graphic nudity (from both sexes) shocks you back out of the moment. Then after the laughter comes another quiet, semi-amusing moment and... you get the picture. On the whole it's really not much better or worse than Ray or Walk the Line, but it's slightly funnier, and recommended most of all for fans of rock history.
© TLA Entertainment Group
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