Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)

Director:

Jake Kasdan

Writers (WGA):

Judd Apatow (written by) &
Jake Kasdan (written by)

Release Date:

21 December 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Music

Tagline:

Life made him tough. Love made him strong. Music made him hard.

Plot:

Singer Dewey Cox overcomes adversity to become a musical legend.

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Musician | Elvis | Drugs | Fratricide

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Nat Faxon	...	Awards Show Stage Manager
John C. Reilly	...	Dewey Cox
Tim Meadows	...	Sam
Conner Rayburn	...	Dewey - Age 8
Chip Hormess	...	Nate
Raymond J. Barry	...	Pa Cox
Terrence Beasor	...	Country Doctor
Margo Martindale	...	Ma Cox
Honeyboy Edwards	...	Old Bluesman (as David Honeyboy Edwards)
Gerry Black	...	Harmonica Player
Aron Johnson	...	Teenage Band
Jack Donovan Saperstein	...	Teenage Band (as Jack Saperstein)
Taylor Hubert	...	Teenage Band (as Taylor Jamison Hubert)
Christopher Hurt	...	Teenage Band
Matt Price	...	MC

Also Known As:

Walk Hard (USA) (short title)
Walk Hard: American Cox, the Unbearably Long, Self-Indulgent Director's Cut (USA) (director's cut)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language.

Runtime:

96 min | 120 min (extended edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Ireland:16 | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R13 | Netherlands:16 | UK:15 | Germany:12 | Italy:VM14 | Sweden:11 | Philippines:R-18 | South Africa:16 | Singapore:R21 | Ireland:15 (DVD rating) | Argentina:16 | Iceland:12 (DVD rating) | Iceland:14

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Apatow Productions

Trivia:

The photograph on the poster is based on the famous Joel Brodsky photo of Jim Morrison, which was used for the Best of The Doors album cover.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In the Dewey Cox Universe, "The Dewey Cox Show" airs on CBS. During a rehearsal, Dewey complains that his show is getting beaten in the ratings by "The Incredible Hulk." "The Incredible Hulk" aired on CBS, so it could not be in competition with "The Dewey Cox Show."

Quotes:

Edith: What about my dreams?
Dewey Cox: Edith I told you I can't build your candy house! It will fall apart, the sun will melt the candy, it won't work!

Movie Connections:

References The Doors (1991)

Soundtrack:

My Girl

Different style but another great one from Apatow gang

As a huge fan of the previous Apatow movies, I drove recklessly through traffic to make it into an early screening of Walk Hard, and I'm happy I did. I think this movie is a different direction for Judd and his band, as it is more similar to Airplane in style than it is to Knocked Up. But that impressed me that they took that risk and made it work -- and it definitely worked as me and the rest of the theatre were laughing with regularity.

Without getting too much into the details of the movie because I hate spoilers, the thing that made this movie great to me was the unexpected humor. Like Airplane, there are a lot of times when you just don't see the next line coming, and those are the best laughs. Besides John C. Reilly in the lead role, who obviously got a lot of the funniest lines, Tim Meadows as Dewey Cox's drummer really cracked me up, and Paul Rudd as Jon Lennon cracked up the entire theatre.

It was definitely one of those movies where you're recalling a lot of funny parts a day later. So while it may be a different type of movie than the Apatow groups' other work, the sense of funny is still there, and I think this is up there with the best comedies of the year.