Metascore
63 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 32
  2. Negative: 1 out of 32
  1. 91
    For 45 minutes, it zings along on perfectly pitched overstatement.
  2. Reviewed by: Richard Schickel
    90
    Not since "This is Spinal Tap" have I had such a good time watching amiable idiocy stumble on toward uncertain glory.
  3. A pitch-perfect musical comedy that at long last moves the talented John C. Reilly up the billing ladder from second banana to top banana.
  4. 75
    Reilly is required to walk a tightrope; is he suffering or kidding suffering, or kidding suffering about suffering? That we're not sure adds to the appeal.
  5. This kind of parody is hard to sustain for an hour and a half, and "Walk Hard" does gets wearying at times. But the humor is so outrageous, the original music so much fun and Reilly so good - both while hamming it up in the role and in singing the songs - that it's irresistible.
  6. For pure, uncomplicated enjoyment, it's the movie to see right now.
  7. Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    75
    If you want to escape all the deadly serious fare of this pre-awards season, run to Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.Why? Cox rocks. This rowdy spoof of music biopics is silly fun and often hilarious.
  8. 75
    The first 30 or so minutes of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story condense the entire Hollywood biopic genre into a sweet chewable tablet. It's the Flintstones vitamin of spoofs.
  9. The movie walks the line of surreal vulgarity (you will not, repeat not, expect the penis), yet most of it, intentionally, is less nutzoid than your average megaplex genre parody.
  10. It should be noted that Walk Hard is aimed at a fairly specific sort of movie subgenre -- it's practically an extended "SNL" sketch -- and it doesn't produce belly laughs so much as steady smiles of recognition over how accurately it's nailing its target. But it really nails that target.
  11. John C. Reilly, with his homely face and mop of curly hair, has been the movies' second banana of choice since his debut in 1989's "Casualties o War." In the comedy, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," he finally gets a starring role and he rises to the challenge.
  12. The film is more funny ha-ha than LOL; it's a smarty-pants satire that mocks and embraces almost every cliché in the biography playbook.
  13. Reviewed by: Toddy Burton
    67
    It's apparent that the sharp comic forces behind this epic are simply a couple of juvenile men who think it's hilarious to show a man's penis on screen just for the sake of itself. But the embarrassing truth is that, well, sometimes it is.
  14. 67
    Walk Hard offers a quantity of laughs that few comedies could match, yet it's likely to leave viewers vaguely unsatisfied, particularly when the closing minutes completely run out of steam. That's the danger of spoofs: You're only as good as your last laugh.
  15. 63
    The tricky thing about parody movies is that the jokes get old fast and they're hit-and-miss. Walk Hard, a spoof of every musical biopic from "Ray" to "Walk the Line," is guilty on both counts. How lucky that when the jokes do hit, they kick major ass.
  16. The tunes are so good, you can't believe the film itself doesn't amount to more, especially with the rightness of the casting. Still, a few laughs are better than none.
  17. 63
    I loved both "Walk the Line" and "Ray," but it will be hard to watch either one with a straight face again after the skewering they get in this Judd Apatow production, which quotes scene after scene to hilarious effect.
  18. While it might not have the laughs-per-minute ratio of the "Naked Gun" movies (but then, what does?), it is a reliable titter generator for boomers and their echo boomlings.
  19. 63
    When Cox is performing, the movie is firing on all cylinders.
  20. 63
    For those who enjoy the saturation style of humor and appreciate the way in which parody is not pushed too far into the absurd, Walk Hard is not without merit.
  21. Reviewed by: Eric Alt
    63
    So you'll laugh, you'll groan, you'll leave the theater singing "I'm gonna beat off….all my demons/That's what lovin' Jesus is all about" -- and isn't that, ultimately, a good thing? Yes.
  22. The movie manages a couple of popcorn-spitting-funny jokes for each biographical decade the film covers, though typically it's no better than moderately clever.
  23. 60
    Is Walk Hard" funny? Sure; very much so, in places. At least I think it is. It might just be the "Date Movie" talking.
  24. Reviewed by: Damon Wise
    60
    John C Reilly just about holds together a funny but patchy comedy that puts a ten-megaton bomb under the cliched rock biopic – and never detonates it.
  25. Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    60
    Strums the genre for considerable laughs, with John C. Reilly playing the title balladeer from teen to senior citizen, generating enough goodwill to offset the flat sections and a decidedly juvenile streak.
  26. 50
    Funniest in its first half, when you're not quite sure where it's going, and drags in the second, by which time you realize it's going nowhere.
  27. Reviewed by: Jim Ridley
    50
    This burlesque of biopic clichés flounders from one setup to the next without the engine that drives the genre: a strong central character.
  28. 50
    The best part of Walk Hard, oddl enough, is the music. I might not care to see Walk Hard" a second time, but I can't wait to hear it again.
  29. 50
    Walk Hard runs down quickly, and suffers further from having the wide-eyed and weightless Reilly as its star.
  30. 50
    Apatow and director Jake Kasdan deliver a fair number of laughs, though nearly every good idea is pressed into service as a running gag. The biggest disappointment is their survey of rock history, which has all the depth of a Time-Life book.
  31. The film is a saggy, oddly mean-spirited takeoff of "Walk the Line."
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 87 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 44
  2. Negative: 14 out of 44
  1. ShammySham
    10
    I laughed most of the time, shook my head for a few parts, but overall this movie was funny. I enjoyed it. especially the part..."and you never paid for drugs!" LMAO. Full Review »
  2. MikeR.
    5
    Some laughs, but pretty unfunny overall.
  3. PatP
    9
    It saddens me to see that this often hilarious movie is drifting into obscurity. Walk Hard is one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time, and only suffers from the occasional slow section that just barely drags it out of the top echelon of raunchy comedies. If you are even marginally interested in this movie, check it out, and you likely won't be disappointed. Adequate litmus tests to determine if you would enjoy this movie include: 1) Did the title make you chuckle? 2) Do you enjoy other Apatow movies? and 3) Did you enjoy the comedic stylings of the comedy troupes The State or Kids in the Hall? If you answered yes to any of these, give this movie a shot, and spread the good word. Full Review »