Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. The newest from Apatow's group, directed by Jake Kasdan, has been getting good word from the early screenings and the following review is the type that raises the hype-o-meter a few notches. It's not so much the comparisons to AIRPLANE and SPINAL TAP, but it's the general mention of the film growing from good to great upon a few days' reflection. That's how I was with some of my favorite comedies, like BIG LEBOWSKI. It's also been so long since we've had a spoof flick that has been any good that I'm just ready for one to tickle the old funny bone. Anyway, here's the review! Enjoy it!
Hey there Quint - I envy those who get into really early screenings, post reviews and get to have their pen names judged by one of the cheekier sets on the web. So when I got into a Walk Hard screening last week I figured I'd try and take my turn. So here are some initial impressions about a movie that I think furthers the notion that Apatow has the golden touch - I was definitely pleased with the movie upon leaving the theater, but after a few daysto stew on it, I'm leaning towards calling it great. It's one of those movies where the laughs are packed tight enough that you're recalling some of the best stuff the day after. And the obscure stuff may end up being as good or better than the trailer-made scenes. For instance, the Beatles scene has a good chance to be the calling card of this movie - the one scene with Jack Black, Rudd, Justin Long and Schwartzman playing McCartney, Lennon, Harrison and Ringo - but I think a lot of John C. Reilly's zany conversational lines will be the most quoted. That seems like a pretty good litmus test for a great comedy - funny enough where you don't have a good handle on the scope of the humor after the first viewing. I have a feeling the movies that this will be most compared to (other than to state that it's far and away superior to recent parody efforts) are Airplane and Spinal Tap. After seeing it once, I'm not going to say Walk Hard is on the level with movies that have withstood the test of time like that, but Apatow and his fellow filmmakers clearly put in the effort to squeeze every once of funny out of the cast and this movie. The result is a parody film geeks will appreciate, which I don't think we've had in a while. I don't have the attention span to critique each aspect of the movie, but I think the cast is notable because they come from all over the place and pretty much everybody scored laughs. Ed Helms, Jack White, Harold Remis each had their moments. I think other than John C. Reilly, Tim Meadow's performance as Dewey Cox's drummer will get the most attention. I have to think he's going to gain a lot from this movie. Probably 5 of the 20 funniest lines in the movie are his, and I don't think I'm going out on a limb with my opinion there. I liked him as an SNL guy, but this was another level. But yeah, the bottom line is that if you're here, you'll probably like it, even though it's a new angle for Apatow and friends. If you're pick for the funniest movie of all time is Mrs. Doubtfire (read: my mom), than you probably won't like this as much as I did. But if you're on the standard comedy tip - Superbad, Naked Gun, Airplane, etc. - this is another one in the wheelhouse. If you use this review, call me DownAtDinos, because a Thin-Lizzy inspired moniker seems safe enough.
