"Introducing... Dewey Cox..."
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WALK HARD: THE BIOPIC OF SOLID COX
By: David Kobylanski
Dewey Cox needs to think in a dramatic stance about his entire life before he plays because, “Once in a generation… There comes a motion picture experience so extraordinary that will change the world… forever…”
It seems Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story was a low point for the life of the musical genius. The film unexpectedly bombed in the box-office last December taking a little over $18 million in the domestic tally though it should prove a solid tune of competition in the DVD market.
Dewey Cox and is brother one picturesque day are out in the barn playing with machetes when he inadvertently slices him in half and shockingly, it’s fatal. The doctor observes: "It's a particularly bad case of somebody being cut in half." And I do concur. Life after that event is never quite right for Dewey, whose father turns up at every triumph to remind him, "The wrong brother died." Dewey Cox develops into a musical prodigy who masters an instrument as soon as he picks it up. “Take My Hand” is the song that spawns the devil in the youth of audiences as they rampage in sex and sin as soon as they hear Dewey voice those words like a lullaby. Success hits hard as he walks fast and journeys effortlessly from one genre to another in order to stay on top of the charts. Soul music… Acid rock… Folk rock… He does it all.
And all the time Dewey (John C. Reilly) is on a downward spiral, tempted by Sam, the drummer in his band (Tim Meadows) who is always in a room with cute backup singers experimenting with drugs but warning Cox never to try them under any circumstance whatsoever! Tempting though isn’t it? Dewey always tries it and cycles through rehabs with his addictive personality. His marriage (with Kristen Wiig) is set to fall apart long before he makes it big as his wife believed in him but mistakenly knew he’d fail. Dewey swaps gals under his arms like memorabilia, even borrowing one man’s wife. Dewey soon falls in love with his backup singer Darlene (Jenna Fischer), travels to India with the Beatles, crosses paths with Buddy Holly and the karate-chopping Elvis Presley. His lead singer status on top of the music world leads to the threat of hitting rock-n-roll bottom as he continuously attempts to get out of the dark period he’s in while even forgetting his own son’s name.
The movie, directed by Jake Kasdan, was co-written by Kasdan and the productive Judd Apatow. They do an interesting thing and instead of sending everything ridiculously over the top like a generic spoof, they allow Reilly to actually play the character. John C. Reilly has a pitch-perfect sense of walking the line between exaggeration and sentiment and creates almost a spin-off of his role from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby though in a better movie, difference profession and not so much of a cocky persona. As Dewey Cox he’s evolves more from farm boy to music god, racing past his supporting role along Will Ferrell in Talladega Nights. The supporting cast in this film isn’t incredible noticeable or outstanding but they aren’t meant to be. They’re professional, almost as if giving a certain respect to the fictional real-life people they’re portraying, bringing quite a bit of believability into their characters. Jenna Fischer, most notable from her secretarial job at NBC’s The Office plays a cute and sweet role that could very well rival Reese Witherspoon’s stance on stage in Walk the Line. At one moment, perhaps as a test of cinematography, a penis is showed on screen for no explicit reason and here is where the movie fails. If only some portions of the film were played as if a real Oscar-worthy biopic was being made, this film could very well be funnier. At times with Walk Hard, it seems the filmmakers were on the right chord but didn’t quite hit the right note making this movie. Even so, this movie’s worthy enough, especially considering John C. Reilly’s Golden Globe nod for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy this year.
So get down and blow him… some kisses as you walk hard along the relatively successful biopic of the fabulous Dewey Cox on DVD.
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