Movie Review: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Judd Apatow seems to be on a single-handed mission to save mainstream American comedy from the likes of Rob Schneider and the Wayans brothers. Not content with bring us two of 2007's best comedies – Knocked Up and Superbad – he now brings us a third in the shape of Walk Hard.

This is a spoof of the musical biopic, most notably the Johnny Cash movie Walk The Line, but with elements of Ray, The Rutles and, of course, This Is Spinal Tap thrown in for good measure. It's the story of Dewey Cox, a good-ol'-boy from the wrong side of the tracks, and his ascent through the world of country music.

Apatow takes production and co-writing duties on Walk Hard, and opts for the 'throw it at the wall and see if it sticks' style of film comedy. The gags fly at a relentless rate, and inevitably many fall flat.

For a movie centred around the music industry, the songs themselves just aren't that good – Apatow and co-writer and director Jake Kasdan don't invest Dewey's tunes with the same attention to detail that made similar spoofs like Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind so successful. Apatow also tries to cover the lack of consistent material with a irritating parade of cameos, from Eddie Vedder and Jack Black to Paul Rudd, who seems to have a clause in a contract that states he must appear somewhere in every film Apatow makes.

But despite its flaws, Walk Hard does have a major trump in the shape of John C Reilly. He gives the character of Dewey far more depth than you'd expect, and embraces the chance to make himself looks ridiculous in nearly every scene.

By charting Dewey's career across the years, Apatow and Kasdan are able to mock a variety of musical styles, including hilarious Beatle and Beach Boy pastiches. At the end of the day though, Walk Hard isn't anything more than an extended sketch that, like most movies of its type, runs out of steam well before the end. There is certainly fun to be had here, but the kind of fun that probably works a lot better on DVD.