Limp Cox

While it seems everything Judd Apatow touches turns to gold, his latest film, a parody of music biopics, is merely bronze. Following in the footsteps of Generation Y favorites such as "Anchorman," "40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Superbad," "Walk Hard" seems to be missing something - that key "uproarious" factor. \nDewey Cox (yes, the inevitable phallic puns are countless) is a young Southern boy who will never be as good as his prodigy brother in the eyes of his cold father, a la Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line." Dewey, played by John C. Reilly for most of the film, accidentally kills his brother, takes his anger out on the guitar, works his way to the top with his hit song "Walk Hard" and spirals into a world of drugs and adultery. It's two parts "Walk the Line," one part "Ray," with a pinch of "Selena" and various pokes at The Beatles and Bob Dylan.\nReilly is decent enough, but he still seems to be caught in Will Ferrell's shadow, even post-"Talladega Nights." The jokes are meh, nothing more than chuckle-inducing. Saturday Night Live alumnus Tim Meadows is particularly funny as Dewey's drug-pushing drummer, but the best part of the movie is the music. Reilly's relatively versatile voice captures the growl of Cash and the rambling of Dylan, and if you ignore the absurd lyrics, the songs are remarkably nostalgic of hits from the '60s and '70s.\nApatow's "Walk Hard" tries a little too hard to capture the ease of the hilarity from his past films - there are few lines that will be recited or immortalized on T-shirts. Oh, and viewers beware: There are numerous full-frontal shots of a flaccid penis, as if the movie needs any more limp Cox.