Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (www.the-usher.com)

"Down that long, winding road"

As he is about to receive the Life Time Achievement Award, legendary singer songwriter Dewey Cox (Reilly) has to think about his entire life before he goes on stage. From the tragic death of his brother Nate, through this first marriage, hit big break, his addictions and most of all his music, Dewey's story is a long and winding road and one that he has to walk hard to get through.

The Judd Apatow comedy bandwagon continues to steamroll Hollywood but can a dip into parody be a step too far?

After enjoying huge box office success with 'The 40 Year-Old Virgin', 'Knocked Up' and 'Superbad', producer/writer/director Judd Apatow was rightly hailed as the saviour of American movie comedy. With 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy' and 'Talladega Nights: The Ballard of Ricky Bobby' also under his belt, he and his collaborators of actors, directors and writers, Apatow has built an impressive portfolio of Hollywood comedy hits but can his first foray into parody be his first real misstep.

Following in the footsteps more of 'Young Frankenstein', 'Airplane' or 'Blazing Saddles' who pay comedic homage to a genre instead of the current set of dreadful parodies like 'Scary Movie', 'Epic Movie' and 'Date Movie' who just parody the previous year's movie and popular culture with no real intelligence, 'Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story' takes a comedic look at the biography movie. Taking a big chuck of influence from the Johnny Cash biography 'Walk the Line' but pushing it to the extreme.

The movie sets up Dewey Cox as a singer songwriter that redefined music and then became an influence to everyone who followed. The film shows the ups and downs of his career, from the childhood tragedy that drove his search for fame, one to his first marriage, his early career and his meeting with the love of his life and singing partner Darlene Madison, very similar to 'Walk the Line' but with this been a Judd Apatow movie, the parody is handled much better than the current crop, unfortunately the comedy isn't strong enough to justify the movie.

The saving grace of the film and the reason why it is much better than it should have been is the excellent cast. John C. Reilly was one of Hollywood most gifted dramatic actors but no one would have believed that he would be just as gifted in a comedic role. After making his comedy big splash along side Will Ferrell in 'Talladega Nights: The Ballard of Ricky Bobby', Reilly proved that he can be a comedic force and as Dewey Cox he gets to prove this again. This is a corner stone of the movie and it is the main reason why it is a lot more watchable than it should have been. Add to this another fine performance from Jenna Fischer as Darlene Madison, who is Dewey's love of his life and some funny cameos and smaller roles from David Krumholtz, Jack Black, Jonah Hill, Justin Long, Paul Rudd and Jason Schwartzman and you have a cast worth watching.

Taking too much from the film they are parodying, 'Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story' is really just 'Walk the Line' with a funny spin. The film also struggles from a problem that most comedies suffer from, all of the best jokes are in the trailer but if you haven't seen the trailer and you like a parody with a little more intelligence than we have become accustomed to.

PICTURE & SOUND

The Blu-Ray disc presents the movie in High Definition wide screen 1:85 up to 1080p, with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound. The Blu-Ray includes the theatrical cut and the self-indulgent overlong-extended cut of the film.

BONUS FEATURES

Commentary
Director/co-writer Jake Kasden, producer/co-writer Judd Apatow, actor John C. Reilly and Lew Martin come together to provide a very funny commentary for 'Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story'. As with all commentaries in Judd Apatow movies, they talk about the film's production, the idea behind it but they are also injected with a lot of humour, making the a must listen for fans.

Full Song Performances (16.58 mins/High Definition)
Listen to and watch the full version of 'Walk Hard', 'Guilty as charged', 'Dear Mr President', 'Starman', '(You make me so) Hard' and 'Walk Hard (All Star Band)'.

Deleted and Extended Scenes (7.42 mins/High Definition)
Entitled 'Drug Deal', 'Beatles' and 'Alternative Acid Trip', these extended or deleted scenes suffer from the lack of a commentary or introduction to reveal why the scenes were removed.

Line-O-Rama (6.22 mins/High Definition)
Watch the cast improvise different lines in scenes from the movie.

The Music of Walk Hard (16.27 mins/High Definition)
Director/co-writer Jake Kasden, producer/co-writer Judd Apatow, actor John C. Reilly, composer/music producer Michael Williams, songwriters Dan Bern, Mike Viola and Tom Wolfe and music producer Manish Raval talk about writing, producing and recording the songs for 'Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story'.

The Real Dewey Cox (14.04 mins/High Definition)
Director/co-writer Jake Kasden, producer/co-writer Judd Apatow, actor John C. Reilly and music stars Lyle Lovett, Jackson Browne, John Mayer, Sheryl Crow, Sarah Evans, Van Zandt, Jewel, Brad Paisley and Ghostface Killah star in a mock-u-mentary about the 'real' Dewey Cox. With the music stars saying how Dewey influenced them and how John C. Reilly became the famous artist, this is a fun look at the legendary star.

OVERALL

The Blu-Ray treatment for 'Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story' is one that fans will really enjoy. As with all Judd Apatow releases, the commentary track is very good and the featurettes, deleted scenes and the Line-O-Rama makes this a very good Blu-Ray that is filled with quality.

BLU-RAY

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2008