What makes Walk Hard work as well as it does is that it is played straight. Rather than pushing everything over the top (like the Scary Movie series), the comedy plays much more subtly, so it retains an emotional center. It is an odd mix and it may hold some of the comedy back, but in the long run it makes the movie that much stronger - a full-fledged movie as opposed to a series of gags. Credit director Jake Kasdan and Judd Apatow, who collaborated on the screenplay, for this success.
It seems that Judd Apatow can do no wrong. He has had a strong track record of late, with comedies that are funny and insightful and have a strong emotional core. It doesn't seem to matter in what capacity he is involved - from director (Knocked Up), producer (Superbad), or writer (as here). It seems that whenever anyone has a little bit of success there will undoubtedly be some backlash, and perhaps some will accuse me of jumping on the Apatow bandwagon, but I do not think I am. His work here, with Kasdan, is smart. It parodies the familiar without slipping into buffoonery. The screenplay gets to the heart of the biopic and even makes you care about the characters along the way. It's very interesting work.
Not every joke lands, but more hit their mark than not. There is a clever mix of slapstick, sight gags, quick verbal jabs, and some stuff that is just off-the-wall. The best thing is that the tone remains consistent throughout, centered by John C. Reilly's performance.
John C. Reilly has made a career playing interesting characters, but has never really gotten the chance to take the lead. Whether or not that was his decision, he has done a fine job for himself. However with Walk Hard he seems to have put everything together. First off, he can sing, and he does all of his own singing here. Next, he is genuinely funny and can be genuinely serious, and puts both sides to great use here. Lastly, he is an actor more than he is a comedian, allowing him to play up the comedy organically without hamming the scenes up, not to mention eliciting genuine sympathy from the viewer as Cox goes further down the spiral. It may not be the best performance of the year, but it is certainly of a higher caliber than one would expect from a parody film.
Article comments
1 - IngSoc
Dood great review but 3 1/2 stars? easy 4- 4 1/2. Great movie even the old ladies infront of us and the prude looking guy behind us were laughing histericly the whole movie.
2 - Damien
Great review, I'm gonna check it out.