BuzzSugar

Walk Hard: Better as a Sketch Than a Movie

BuzzSugar — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 06:30:00 -0800

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, the final 2007 notch on Judd Apatow's ever-growing comedy belt, isn't a great movie - but it would have been a fantastic Saturday Night Live sketch. The movie, which Apatow produced and co-wrote with Jake Kasdan, can be hilarious, but it's just as often tiresome, dipping into the same well of jokes over and over again.

Even so, there are enough hilarious moments in the movie's second half that I came out of the theater feeling surprisingly good about Walk Hard. It's not the next Knocked Up, but it's a pretty good diversion, if you can get through the draggy first 45 minutes and have a high tolerance for the type of humor usually favored in high school cafeterias.

John C. Reilly stars as Dewey Cox, the archetypal rock star with a dark secret in his past - namely that he accidentally killed his brother by whacking him in half with a machete. To cope, Cox learns to play the blues, then progresses to rock 'n' roll, ultimately leaving his family for a career in showbiz. When he fills in for injured Bobby Shad (Craig Robinson of The Office) at an erotic nightclub, Cox ends up on the fast track to musical fame (and ruin), with all the drugs, women, stints in rehab, jail sentences, and folk-musician rebirths that implies. The movie sticks close to the formula it's spoofing, and that's part of why the first half feels so tired. For the rest of my take, just read more.

If you've ever seen a musician biopic - heck, if you've ever seen a movie - you know that Cox is going to run off with his girlfriend (Kristen Wiig), give her lots of babies, and be lured toward infidelity by a Christian woman with tarty tastes in fashion (Jenna Fischer). He's going to try drugs despite his protestations that he won't, and he's going to have a confrontation with his father. What little you don't already know, the movie will drive into your head in no time: Cox being tempted into drugs by his bandmates is funny the first time, chuckle-worthy the second time, and just dumb by the third. Same goes for having Cox stare off into space every time someone utters a quasi-profound line that could become his next song.

But then, around the time the story slides into the 1960s, something changes, and the movie comes out much funnier for it. In quick succession, there's a priceless Bob Dylan parody, a scene with Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Justin Long, and Jason Schwartzman as the Beatles, and an acid trip straight out of Yellow Submarine. There were good moments after that - especially the YouTube mashup of "Walk Hard" by a rapper named Lil' Nutzzak, and yes, you know exactly where that's going - and a biopic-worthy conclusion, but that '60s segment contained all the images, scenes, and jokes that stuck in my mind days later.

In terms of spotting comedy stars, the movie is pure pleasure; everyone from Ed Helms to Jonah Hill to Jack McBrayer to Harold Ramis has a moment. But the movie really belongs to Reilly, a consistent supporting actor finally getting a featured role. Playing Dewey Cox requires hitting a very specific tone, saying goofy lines earnestly but not so earnestly they're no longer funny, and on that score, Reilly is nearly flawless. I still wish Walk Hard had been shorter by half (or maybe three-quarters), but if it means that Reilly gets some recognition for what he can do in a leading role, I won't protest too much.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

First Look: Judd Apatow's Walk Hard, Starring Jenna Fisher

BuzzSugar — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 12:28:24 -0700

Ever since Judd Apatow had a fame explosion this summer with the release of Knocked Up (and the soon-to-be hit summer comedy Superbad), every project he has even remotely touched is splashed with his name. I predict Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, which Apatow co-wrote with Jake Kasdan, will be no different.

The comedy starring John C. Reilly and Jenna Fisher (with supporting characters played by Kristen Wiig, Tim Meadows and even an appearance by Jack White playing Elvis) spoofs musician biopics - specifically, of course, Walk the Line. However, with so much built up around Apatow's name, I wonder if everyone's hopes for this movie might be set a little too high. The trailer's not terrible, but it certainly doesn't come close to seeming as interesting or funny as Knocked Up or even 40-Year-Old Virgin were. The movie opens December 21, so to watch the trailer and tell me what you think of it, read more

Walk Hard - Trailer
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Movie Preview: The TV Set

BuzzSugar — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 05:25:21 -0700

While the networks prep their Fall pilots, the rest of us wonder how so many laughably bad shows get made, even as truly great series disappear forever. Perhaps we should ask writer and director Jake Kasdan, whose new movie, The TV Set, hits theaters on Friday, April 6. Kasdan was one of the creative forces behind the short-lived but much-beloved "Freaks and Geeks," so it's fitting that he's now making a movie about the making of a TV pilot.

The TV Set - tagline: "a place where dreams are canceled" - follows scribe Mike Klein (a scruffy David Duchovny) as he attempts to rescue his show, "The Wexler Chronicles," from death by committee. I'm glad to see Duchovny back on the big screen, and the supporting cast also looks promising, including Sigourney Weaver as the persuasive network executive, Willie Garson ("Sex and the City"), and Justin Bateman.

The premise sounds great, and the trailer makes me laugh, but for some reason, The TV Set's 89-minute runtime makes me nervous. I'm still putting it on my "to see" list, though, so watch the trailer and tell me me what you think when you read more

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