As a parody movie, Walk Hard simply works. John C. Reilly does a great job carrying the movie while the supporting cast, made up of several SNL alums including Tim Meadows and Chris Parnell, as well as several notable stars like Paul Rudd, Jack Black and Jenna Fischer, add a sizeable amount of zing to the entire movie with their strong performances. Walk Hard's greatest strength, however, is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. Although there are a number of completely absurd moments throughout the movie, such as Dewey's countless kids, his purchasing of zoo animals or polygamist marriage, there's a faint, underlying sincerity running throughout the movie. Whereas other movies, like Anchorman, have included similar elements, these moments feel like they fit within the story's context since they're basically culled from the antics of real life celebrities.
Walk Hard is a two-disc Blu-ray offering, so you know there's a considerable amount of extras included. The first of which is that you get two versions of the movie, the theatrical run, which runs a modest 96 minutes and the "Unbearably Long Self-Indulgent Director's Cut", which clocks in at a full two hours. It's long, but the director's cut is worth a watch since it offers longer versions of the songs as well as a few extended scenes that aren't included in the Special Features.
In addition to the normal outtakes and commentary, Walk Hard also includes a number of in-character interview segments, including a commercial for Dewey's "Cox Sausage", which is essentially an excuse to squeeze in as many double entendres as possible within a short period of time. Speaking of double entendre, both the movie and the extras are filled with elements that might bother some viewers. There are a number of male and female full-frontal nudity shots throughout the movie, as well as copious amounts of drug use. Sure, some of it feels unnecessary, but honestly I've seen worse and it never feels like it is used for pure shock factor. Okay... so maybe the nudity is there for shock factor, but it only happens once.
Getting back on track, the features disc also includes 16 full song performances, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the music featured in the movie, original song demos from the songwriters, and a special Dewey Cox Christmas song. Walk Hard is also one of the first movies to feature BD-Live features, which are a special set of extras that are accessible only if you have a Blu-ray player with internet capabilities (currently, only the PS3 has this option). The BD-Live features include a breakdown of three of Dewey's hits by certified "Coxologist" Derek Stone and theatrical trailers. The content isn't completely worth the added price, though I'm interested (and a bit nervous) to see where this feature leads in the future.
Although it doesn't quite reach Spinal Tap levels of quality, Walk Hard does a great job at combining a funny story with great music and performances. The extras and improved sound quality provided by the Blu-ray disc also make it worth the extra money.
