Apatow's best this year... I haven't laughed that hard in theaters since Borat or Anchorman... A

There is a five minute stretch, during the "Let's Duet" montage, that I literally could not breath because of how much/hard I was laughing.

Outside of that, it is merely pretty funny, with the occassional serious gut-buster. Anyone who enjoys the absurdist humor of stuff like Hot Rod (still the funniest movie of the year) will find a lot to like here.

C-
Below average. Apatow's worst.

i almost wish this wasn't as good a film as it's shaping up to be...it wouldn't make its BO bombing so painful.

"Ain't no terrible tragedy gonna happen today!" - Nate Cox

This was just really not that funny. I chuckled now and then, but I waited for the laughs to come and they never really did. Very disappointing. C-

Yeah, I thought it was disappointing given my expectations, but I still enjoyed it. It's the least laugh-out-loud hilarious film from Apatow yet, but there are still laughs to be had. And the cast does a solid job with the material. The problem is that many of the jokes fall flat and the concept wears thin by the end. B/B-

Second nomination for best line:

"Smell that shit, Dewey!" - Darlene Madison



{PS: I'm real sorry to hear that some people ain't appreciatin' the Cox. However, in the end, I'm certain the Cox will surmount all quibblers. Check back on page five of this thread... }

{{PPS: Libs negative review of this type of comedy is the gold standard certification of hilarity. Those who know Libs' SoH* will know that this type of film never works for her. I seriously dread her thumbs up on funny. }}

{{{PPPS: Walk Hard rocks hard!!!}}}



(* Sense 'o' Humor)

That "this type of film" never works for me?

I loved both of Apatow's previous productions this year, Knocked Up and Superbad.

And I love many spoofs...Airplane, Scary Movie, etc.

This movie just...wasn't funny.

I just saw this for the second time. Didn't hold up as well as i wanted it to, but still the funniest movie of the year. I am lowering it from an A to an A-.

Admittedly, this is really a different type of Apatow film than the other two movies his name has been attached to in 2007. Knocked Up was a romantic comedy (of sorts) and Superbad was a sex comedy. On the other hand, Walk Hard is a spoof. Granted, it's a spoof done with far greater creativity and ambition than this year's Epic Movie (but then again, Walk Hard could have been awful and still more creative and ambitious than that atrocity of a film), but still a spoof. Additionally, whereas Knocked Up and Superbad took very realistic looks at life, Walk Hard took an intentionally cartoonish one.

I liked the film (B+), and I'll probably add further comments later.

There's nothing wrong with not enjoying a genre, in this case the "low comedy", or particular movies like Walk Hard. It's just that I find your reviews useful, because we have such diametrically opposed tastes in this area - - if you hate it, it's a very good sign about the movie to me.



Correction: "This movie just...wasn't funny...[to you]."

You'll have to start applying that preface to all your negative reviews as well Bradford, thats if you believe in consistency.

The concept of spoofing the musical biopic is such a knockout that there was no way they could make it without being somewhat amusing. (As long as it's not from the soulless bastards from Fox anyhow.) That said, Walk Hard feels like a great idea on paper that just isn't nearly as funny as it ought to be. I nodded in appreciation of the jabs at the uber specific sub-genre, but a lot of the dialogue doesn't really work. I don't think John C. Reilly was as miscast as some have said, but I do think that in order for a film he's headlining to work they should've had a stronger supporting cast. Jenna Fischer was the only other person who made any sort of a lasting impression.

That might've been a good idea, if my reviews weren't so darn irrefutable...

Fairly disappointing. Definitely only a few laughs, many courtesy of Tim Meadows. The dude has a natural comedic delivery. John C. Reilly was perfect for Dewey Cox. I think he pulled it off well. Jenna Fischer did well with her role, but it wasn't a big enough role where she had a whole lot to work with. I was pretty disappointed in Kristen Wiig's character. Definitely didn't show off her potential. Everyone else was decent, I guess. They did what they had to. But the film lacked a supporting role/cameo appearance that was really memorable. Jack White's wasn't really long enough. Jonah Hill's was way too long. Fuck, I didn't realize how blah Jonah Hill is until this movie.

Anyway... I'd give it a C.

Btw, Forgetting Sarah Marshall doesn't look a ton better, sadly. I hope Kristen Bell is good, though.

Let me first say that I enjoyed the film and thought it was very funny. That saying, I thought it was somewhat disappointing. Maybe that's because Apatow's most recent films have been so good, but that's kind of unfair. I have two basic problems. Even though I said the film is very funny, there's a gap of time in the middle of the film where it doesn't go anywhere and stops being funny. I can't really explain why, it just seems to run out of gas. My second problem is that although it's ten times better than most spoofs we've been treated to recently (and with Meet the Spartans coming up, I'm guessing this is as good as we're gonna get it) it feels unfocused and rushed at times. Maybe it's supposed to be because it's spoofing so many films and cliches at the same time, but I feel that out of all the films Apatow has been apart of, this one could've used another 20 minutes or so and could've expanded on some ideas. What's on screen works and is good for the most part, but it could've been better.

The more I think about the film, the more I like it, but for now I'm sticking with a solid.....

B

oh please, there's no Judd Apatow backlash. This film received a terrible marketing campaign due to trailers that simply didn't work, a way-too-crowded release date, and a time of year not very good for spoofs [it's where Scary Movie 2 performed badly in the past, isn't it?]. Besides, how can there be a backlash to the guy whose first three movies [40YOV, KU, SB] are considered some of the funniest movies of the decade? He has to have a film that people dislike first.

Once he had hits with Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and especially Virgin with him as the director , he gained a lot of respect and freedom to do pretty much whatever project he wanted(first time director of an R-rated film that made over $100 million dollars). Rogen, Goldberg and Apatow had wanted to make the film for at least four years before they actually got to. Hell, Apatow probably knew about while he and Rogen were making Freaks and Geeks, since Rogen had been writing it for the better part of his life. If those three films hadn't been hits with Apatow's name under them, Superbad never would've been made. Or it would've been made, but not in the same control (the Apatow regulars, director, etc.) which means it could've been an entirely different film. He had a lot of influence on the film.

all I know is that in the interviews and commentaries for Superbad, he does just as much, if not more, talking as Rogen/Goldberg do. He has a LOT more to do with his produced films than your average producer. Not to mention, as was said, he's the main reason it got made, and got made with the people who allowed it to be the hilarious film it is. But on top of that, I believe he did have a good deal to do with how the film was made. It had a lot of Apatow-isms in it [at least the way the characters interact, the awkwardness, etc...]. if he didn't help make it, it was at least inspired by his style.

well I've always been confused as to the amount the producers have to do with the final product. I know that in the old days, they were considered the ones responsible for the film, but that obviously changed over time. For example, I definitely felt some Jurassic Park moments while I watched Transformers, meaning Spielberg had something to do with it. But who knows how much he contributed to the story, execution, etc...

A

Had they marketed this film correctly and gave it a less crowded release date then it would've most likely done much better at the box office than its doing. But they didn't and its failing miserably as a result so blame whoever you want.

As far as what the producers role is, the short answer is, it depends. If we are talking about Executive producers then all they do is find the money to get the film made. They are the ones who shmooze, booze and flooze their way to the money. They in turn hire the 'producer/s' to oversee the entire project after finacing has been secured. Its the 'producers' job to get the film made as they have their hands on almost everything from final script to set design. Its the producer who hires the director, helps cast the film, hires the caterer and makes sure the ship stays on course. If anything goes wrong or needs to be fixed in a hurry its the producers job to make it right, and fast.
If you've ever wondered why the same people always work together (or still continue to find work) the system is designed to work that way. The way the system is set-up is very incestous and extremely hard to break into.

As far as Walk Hard goes I thought is was moderately disapointing. It did have some really funny parts but none that had me really in stitches like other Apatow films. I thought Reilly was perfect as Cox. He's a great character or supporting actor but I still don't thinks he's ready to carry a film on his own. The rest of the cast was kind of just their, filling up space and spouting dialoge when needed. Jenna Fischer made the most of what she was given, but was not given enough to work with. I think this is definately one of the best spoof films out there, but they just stretched the preimse a little too thin and it ended up hurting the finished product.

Grade
C+/B-