Four Jokes Does Not a Movie Make: Walk Hard

Comedy writers come up with funny ideas all of the time. They gauge the comedic magnitude of these ideas by bouncing them off other humorous people. At some point it must be decided what should be done with this funny idea. Should it be discarded? Should it be a sketch on a late night comedy show? Does this idea deserve its own feature length film?
With Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, writers Jake Kasdan and Judd Apatow have a perfectly funny premise. Films like The Buddy Holly Story, Ray and Walk the Line are ripe for satire. However, the manner in which the filmmakers have gone about lampooning this genre does not deserve an entire film. Walk Hard is hung up on repeatedly harping on a handful of tropes found in musical biopics. Yes, these movies are overly dramatic. Yes, they follow the exact same story arc (early success followed by drug addled debauchery, followed by redemption). Yes, they are overly dramatic. Yes, they are blatant Oscar grabs. Pointing these facts out over and over again takes up about eighty percent of Walk Hard. When these attempts are Spinal Tap-esque (the scene where Dewey holds an absurdist press conference a la Bob Dylan) the movie seems salvageable; when it slides into Epic Movie territory (all the scenes with Jonah Hill as the ghost of Dewey’s brother) the viewer starts to question why they were asked to come out to the theater for this half baked product.
John C. Reilly does a commendable job of holding this uneven material together. Reilly is a welcome addition to the stable of Hollywood’s comedic actors. He provides a texture to his character that would not have been possible with a more conventional comedian in the role. He has the chops for this genre and is far more watchable than say Will Farrell or Adam Sandler.
If only Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan could travel back to the time when they first discussed the concept of Walk Hard. With some proper thought, they certainly could of created a cyberspace sensation with a great 12 minute version of the film to be devoured on YouTube.