Rated: R
Starring: John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Kristen Wiig, Tim Meadows, Raymond J. Barry
Directed by: Jake Kasdan

• Official Site

John C. Reilly is a hoot in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Much like his characterization of Cal Naughton, Jr. in the comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, in his first starring role Reilly proves to be the next big star of comedy. Move over Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell, because here comes Johnny.

From humble and very weird beginnings, Dewey (Reilly) discovers his purpose in life when he finds out he can play rock ‘n roll guitar like no other. On the way to the top of his game, the naive young man sleeps with women (a lot of them), takes illegal drugs (all of them), gets married (several times) and fathers 22 children. Finding himself on the same stage as the Big Bopper and Elvis one night, Dewey takes on the challenge of a lifetime. When he meets Darlene (Fischer), however, his life starts on another roller coaster ride.

The winner here goes beyond the fine acting ability of Reilly, it’s in his singing. The film’s soundtrack features at least 20 original songs, that although the verbal communication is sometimes wacky, the tunes are catchy and even reminiscent of Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys and other rock ‘n roll greats.

Tunes like “I hate you Big Daddy", “Farmer Glickstein", “Hole In My Pants", and “Hey Mr. Old Guy", are off-beat, yet fit into the realm of the Dewey Cox rock ‘n roll genre. Topping my list of favorites, however, are two absolute winners, “Walk Hard” (taking a lot of liberties with ‘I Walk The Line’) and “Let’s Duet". Both could probably make it to the country charts, and probably will.

Direction by Kasdan is right on the money, providing a good show with this very difficult-to-produce comedic script. Kasdan moves the story at a fast clip, taking us from Cox’s early boyhood to his final concert at age 70. Incorporating some fine aging make-up and special effects, the filmmaker is able to use Reilly as Cox from teen to elderly.

There are a lot of good actor cameos in the film, including Jack White as Elvis, Jack Black as Paul McCartney, Jason Schwartzman as Ringo Starr, Justin Long as George Harrison, Paul Rudd as John Lennon, Frankie Muniz as Buddy Holly, John Ennis as the Big Bopper, and Harold Ramis as L’Chai’m. Although I had fun picking them out, it did become a little distracting.

FINAL ANALYSIS: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is a fun film for the guys and a tolerable flick for a date. But, between you and I, you may want to get your best dudes together so you can yuk it up without the fear of letting your girlfriend know your ‘unsophisticated’ side.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."