WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY
RYAN: I have never before cried so hard in a movie.
CAROLINE: Ha. The movie is “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” which bizarrely came out right before Christmas. It totally should have come out in January or February.
RYAN: I know, right? It’s a comedy spoof of films like “Walk The Line” and “Ray,” but it’s a pretty straightforward spoof. I would have liked to have seen it take a few more liberties.
CAROLINE: It’s mildly amusing, but I expected more considering that it’s co-written and produced by Judd Apatow, director of amazing films like “The 40-Year-Old-Virgin” and “Knocked Up.”
RYAN: I think what Judd Apatow brought to this movie more than his sensibility was his friendships with the cast. There are some outstanding cameo appearances by actors we have come to love in his previous films.
CAROLINE: Basically everyone from “The 40-Year-Old-Virgin” has a small part in this movie other than Steve Carell and Seth Rogen. And there are a bunch of people from SNL in it too, and even a cameo by Kenneth from “30 Rock.”
RYAN: Jenna Fischer plays Dewey Cox’s second wife, and she has never looked more gorgeous in her life.
CAROLINE: Well they make her character look really dowdy on “The Office” so she’s bound to look better with good hair and outfits. And she gets to wear fun aging makeup in this movie.
RYAN: They did an amazing job with the makeup in this movie, I must say. Especially with John C. Reilly at the end.
CAROLINE: I just expected more somehow. I wanted more laughs. I chortled a few times, but some of the jokes were horribly lame.
RYAN: I usually don’t fault Judd Apatow for this, but this movie relies a little bit too much on dirty/sexual/lowest common denominator humor and it seemed a little cheap.
CAROLINE: You do get to see more than one penis though.
RYAN: I think it’s the same penis over and over.
CAROLINE: Oh. I thought it was two different penises.
RYAN: Let’s talk about how John C. Reilly was nominated for a Golden Globe for this movie.
CAROLINE: That’s only because the GGs do separate acting categories for drama and musical/comedy. And this movie is such an obvious fit for both musical and comedy. Even though I’ve been kind of dissing the movie thus far, I will say that there’s one absolutely hilarious scene that takes place in India with the Beatles and the maharishi which features cameos from folks we love like Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Justin Long and Jason Schwartzman. It made me laugh very hard.
RYAN: Their faux British accents are hilarious. BTW Kristen Wiig, who we love on SNL, is also in this and I love her but I wanted more from her.
CAROLINE: She didn’t have much to do other than be the long-suffering wife.
RYAN: The movie is only 90 minutes long but there were actually a few times where I felt like it was dragging.
CAROLINE: That’s never a good sign. Bottom line?
RYAN: It’s an entertaining film, but you definitely don’t need to see it in the theater. I don’t think it’s worthy of any awards, like some Judd Apatow films have been, but I don’t regret seeing it.
CAROLINE: I’d say it’s a rental at best. I don’t regret seeing it either since I love the cast and all the cameos are so great, but it certainly did not meet my expectations. I wanted it to be hilarious, but it’s merely amusing. I didn’t expect it to be the next “Knocked Up,” but I did expect it to be funnier than it was.
RYAN: You and me both.