Music Bio Degradable
Walk Hard
Review by Ross Anthony

I'm a big fan of John C. Reilly, he was awesome in Magnolia and Chicago and a lot of fun in Talladega Nights. And writer/producer Judd Apatow dispensed a great deal of sidesplitting laughter to audiences earlier this year with Knocked up and Superbad. Perhaps it's unfair to compare, but I can't help it, "Walk Hard," while a cute enough film, just doesn't have the same laugh quota.

Clearly the target of the spoof are the recent Music Bio films Walk the Line and Ray about the lives of Johnny Cash and Ray Charles, respectively. Admittedly, a spoof of these films isn't a bad idea as their story lines so often converge that a melodramatic bio-pic formula emerges. Apatow and crew enjoy hitting all those emotional moments with grossly exaggerated impact. It's funny sometimes, more often cute. An SNL sketch may have been a better vehicle for such a spoof though. When put on the big screen, the spoof ends up having a film life of its own. Ironically, it becomes a music bio pic in order to sustain itself.

That said, I particularly enjoyed the meeting of the Beatles in India. Paul Rudd does a very funny John Lennon.

Apatow says, "John has a voice like Roy Orbison and he's built like Johnny Cash. He was a great combination of all these people. We met with him early on - before we wrote the script – and told him a little bit about the outline. Then, when we were done with the script, we gave it to John and we begged and begged and begged."

-- Book Contest --


  • Walk Hard. Copyright © 2007.
  • Starring John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Tim Meadows, Kirsten Wiig, Raymond J. Barry, Margo Martindale, Chris Parnell, Matt Besser, David Krumholtz.
  • Directed by Jake Kasdan.
  • Screenplay by Judd Apatow, Jake Kasdan.
  • Produced by Judd Apatow, Jake Kasdan, Clayton Townsend at Columbia, Relativity,Nominated.

Grade..........................B (2/4)


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Copyright © 1998-2023 Ross Anthony, Author - Speaker - Solo World Circumnavigator In addition to reviewing films and interviewing celebs at HollywoodReportCard.com, traveling the world, composing great music, motivational speaking, Mr. Anthony also runs his own publishing company in the Los Angeles area. While traversing the circumference of the planet writing books and shooting documentaries, Mr. Anthony has taught, presented for, worked &/or played with locals in over 30 countries & 100 cities (Nairobi to Nagasaki). He's bungee-jumped from a bridge near Victoria Falls, wrestled with lions in Zimbabwe, crashed a Vespa off a high mountain road in Taiwan, and ridden a dirt bike across the States (Washington State to Washington DC). To get signed books ("Rodney Appleseed" to "Jinshirou") or schedule Ross to speak check out: www.RossAnthony.com or call 1-800-767-7186. Go into the world and inspire the people you meet with your love, kindness, and whatever it is you're really good at. Check out books by Ross Anthony. Rand() functions, Pho chicken soup, rollerblading, and frozen yogurt (w/ blueberries) also rock! (Btw, rand is short for random. It can also stand for "Really Awkward Nutty Dinosaurs" -- which is quite rand, isn't it?) Being alive is the miracle. Special thanks to Ken Kocanda, HAL, Jodie Keszek, Don Haderlein, Mom and Pops, my family, R. Foss, and many others by Ross Anthony. Galati-FE also deserves a shout out. And thanks to all of you for your interest and optimism. Enjoy great films, read stirring novels, grow.


Last Modified: Thursday, 20-Dec-2007 12:07:01 PST