Neddy Merrill
Some interesting decisions here from Judd Apatow and company. They start with just the essential choice to parody a modestly well-know music biography - "Walk the Line" which had come out only 2 years prior. Unlike "Spaceballs", the Mel Brooks parody of perhaps the most famous films of all time and one rife for satire likely the vast majority of film-goers won't even catch most of the allusions to Johnny Cash's story such as the death of his brother who haunted him his whole life. Also, Cash's name continues to carry artistic cache unlike a John Denver or even Elvis Presley so some viewers may have found themselves offended by the send-up of Cash's life story. Another interesting choice involves using a script made up of only jokes until the final 10-15 minutes of run-time when the film becomes very sentimental finishing on an incongrously uplifting final performance of a legitimate tune. The strategy seemed to be to launch one joke after another with the idea that enough will land to make the overall experience funny. While there is some sophisticated humor (Dewey's first wife played by Kristen Wiig promises to support his muscial career no matter what before nearly instantly trying to get a legitimate job for him in a slaughterhouse even after he has become wildly sucessful), for the most part - including the actual name of the film - it is a long series of racial, scatalogical, and genital jokes. There are many Python-esque absurdist moments as well particularly focused on fourth-wall breaking (much is made of John C. Reily playing Dewey at 14, 19, and 21). In short, probrably more of a party movie for groups enjoying some inerbriates.
Michael Davies
This is one of the best comedies I've seen for a while. It's not overly funny and doesn't try to be a laugh a minute kind of comedy. But the story line keeps you interested the whole time while you wait for the jokes to come .I know the movie is a kind of spoof of walk the line and goes through the highs and lows of starts in the era of the Beatles , Orbison , cash and co, but it was delivered in a way that is funny and also made me feel for the character, who can't feel for this guy, he's brilliant in most films he's in, apart from maybe step brothers is day this is he's next best role in any movie and it's perfectly made for him. the supporting cast in be movie all had great roles too, and even the singing and the songs in the movie were enjoyable to me haha.I'd definitely recommend this , and I could definitely watch it again and again.
Eric
Rather than point out what others have done well, I just want to add that the editing on this film is first rate. There are many good comedies that have lots of great scenes punctuated by not-so-good stuff. Marx Brothers films come to mind - classics without doubt, but stretches where you can go get a beer and not miss much; and most of the parody films of the last 20 years. Walk Hard doesn't let up. There's hardly twenty seconds without a whack to the funny bone. It may be just a raised eyebrow or a near-throwaway line that just happens to be perfectly placed. If there's a rating for Jokes Per Minute (JPM), this movie is one of the alltime best. And as a musician, this for me is one of the two best music business parodies of all time, the other, of course, being Spinal Tap. It takes superior intelligence to know how to be supremely silly, and this movie has it!
stanhill-496-547148
Just watched it again after couple of years. It is hilarious. artful and outstandingly produced, written and acted. Many of the actors are readily recognized from other roles in movies and TV, and went on to do other successful features and TV series...e.g. Jenna Fischer The Office. The R-rating allowed honesty and some funny vulgarity and language that some governments consider more dangerous than violence; go figure. Even more funny if you've seen 'Walk the Line'; The Buddy Holly Story; and even. 'One Flew Over the Cucko's Nest, plus and a few others, you'll remember as you watch the movie. The Dewy Cox songs are also good music and the lyrics contribute smartly to the outright audacious humour. Judd Apitow was involved in the writing of, Walk Hard, and I feel,it would likely be considered among his best work, if not for limited audience because of the R rating. But it was worth it. A film that will get even more appreciated and stay very funny with time.
AD
