Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)

Singer Dewey Cox overcomes adversity to become a musical legend.

Director:

Jake Kasdan

Writers:

Judd Apatow, Jake Kasdan

Stars:

John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, David Krumholtz

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nat Faxon	...	Awards Show Stage Manager
John C. Reilly	...	Dewey Cox
Tim Meadows	...	Sam
Conner Rayburn	...	Dewey Age 8
Chip Hormess	...	Nate
Raymond J. Barry	...	Pa Cox
Terrence Beasor	...	Country Doctor
Margo Martindale	...	Ma Cox
Honeyboy Edwards	...	Old Bluesman (as David Honeyboy Edwards)
Gerry Black	...	Harmonica Player
Aron Johnson	...	Teenage Band
Jack Donovan Saperstein	...	Teenage Band (as Jack Saperstein)
Taylor Hubert	...	Teenage Band (as Taylor Jamison Hubert)
Christopher Hurt	...	Teenage Band
Matt Price	...	MC (Teacher)

Storyline

The up-and-down-and-up-again story of musician Dewey Cox, whose songs would change a nation. On his rock 'n roll spiral, Cox sleeps with 411 women, marries three times, has 36 kids, stars in his own 70s TV show, collects friends ranging from Elvis to the Beatles to a chimp, and gets addicted to - and then kicks - every drug known to man; but despite it all, Cox grows into a national icon and eventually earns the love of a good woman - longtime backup singer Darlene.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to iggy pop | columbia tristar | satirical | singing | female nudity | 

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Taglines:

Life made him tough. Love made him strong. Music made him hard.

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Genres:

Comedy | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dewey Cox's audition, at which he sings "That's Amore," is a reference to Elvis Presley. He showed up at his audition for Sun Records wanting to sing like Dean Martin. Sun owner Sam Phillips refused to record him until he and three members of the Sun house band started jamming on Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right, Mama," which became Elvis' first record.

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Goofs

When Nate and Dewey discuss what they want to be when they grow up, Nate says he's going to be an astronaut. Although the term was used in rare literature as far back as 1930, the scene takes place in 1946, before the term 'astronaut' became a common term in the late 1950's.

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Quotes

Dewey Cox: [talking to his chimp] I'll tell you, I've had it. I've had it with all this crap! You took her side every time! All you care about is fruit, and touching yourself. Well fuck you!

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Crazy Credits

After the credits there is a black&white clip of Dewey Cox performing Walk Hard in 2002, with the words "The actual Dewey Cox"

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Alternate Versions

The extended version released on home video, "American Cox: The Unbearably Long Self-Indulging Director's Cut", runs at 2 hours long.

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Connections

References Donny and Marie (1975)

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Soundtracks

Black Sheep
Written by Michael Andrews and Van Dyke Parks
Produced by Michael Andrews
Performed by John C. Reilly (uncredited)

User Reviews

hilarious

I thought this was a brilliant satire of the biopic genre. It was obviously borrowed from Walk the Line, but there was plenty of other stuff thrown in as well. It was a truly hilarious movie, including the scenes where the band members convince him to try the drugs, a scene with the Beatles, the variety show stuff and interviews, all the scenes with the title character smashing the sinks, and the Walk the Line spoofs. It was very well written with lots of great dialog. You will love all the cameos and other stuff. I guarantee it. This was a tailor-made role for John C. Reilly, who is perfect in and for the part, as is just about everyone in it.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Details

Official Sites:

Dewey Cox - Unofficial Facebook 2015 Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 December 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Walk Hard

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,174,383, 23 December 2007

Gross USA:

$18,317,151

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$20,576,198

Company Credits

Production Co:

Apatow Productions, Columbia Pictures, GH Three

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 120 min (extended edition)

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1