Worse Than You Could Imagine: Walk Hard

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (Advance Screening)
Directed by Jake Kasdan
To be released December 21, 2007

First of all, I promise it was a free screening. It should have been a sign that I was seeing this kind of film amongst all these awards contenders. Yet I still went in blindly hoping that maybe it would make me laugh like "Talladega Nights" did, even though I was not a big fan of that film. From this movie's first line - "I need Cox" - which illicited laughter from some audience members, I knew there was no hope. There are glimmers of things that could potentially be funny, and I will admit I sort of smiled maybe three times throughout the film. The worst thing is that the cast is sprinkled with so many talented actors who are all saddled with the most unfunny roles they could get. I do not know why John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer thought headlining this film would be a good idea for their careers. Two terrific cameos are ruined by the script, but worth watching: four well-known comedians as the Beatles (I will not tell you who they are so there is something to look forward to if you for some reason see it) and Jonah Hill as Dewey's brother. The film is also not effective as a parody. Its repeated destruction of the dramatic parts of "Ray" and "Walk the Line" is horrid, and the comedy could be clever if it was not dumbed down so much. I had to immediately cleanse myself of the music that got stuck in my head by listening to "A Mighty Wind" as soon as I got back from the movie. Entertainment Weekly just named Judd Apatow the smartest person in Hollywood, but after this film, I am no longer so sure. This is easily the worst film of the year to this point, worse even than "Goya's Ghosts", a feat I hardly thought possible.

F-