Review: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

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“This is Spinal Tap” mocked the rock documentary. Now the clichés of the pop-star biopic (such as “Ray” and “Walk the Line”) get slapped silly by director Jake Kasdan and producer-co-writer Judd Apatow. Earlier this year, Kasdan slammed the making of TV pilots in so-so comedy “The TV Set.” Apatow’s writing and producing credits include skewering the TV talk show (“The Larry Sanders Show”) and the TV news personality (“Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”). He also directed “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up.” Kasdan and Apatow now showcase John C. Reilly in the title role as a blues-rock-soul-folk-country-psychedelic-easy-listening singer whose career spans musical decades and drugs of choice. Blame amphetamines for a brief punk phase. By the time Cox takes the stage for his lifetime achievement award, he’s walked hard from marijuana to Viagra. It all starts down home in Alabama on a carefree summer day when little Dewey plays with his piano prodigy brother. “Ain’t nothin’ horrible going to happen today!” chirps the lad whose musical gifts exceed his gift of prophesy. One career ends with an accidental swing of a machete; another is born after his guilt-ridden sibling picks up a guitar. Shutting through more than a hundred costume changes, Reilly plays Cox from 14 to 66. The jokes are top of the charts and all over the map. Since “Jews control show business,” Harold Ramis plays the one who gives Cox his first record contract for crooning “Mama, You Got to Love Your Negro Man.” “Walk Hard” borrows a bit from Steve Martin’s “The Jerk.” A pun employing a cameo by The Temptations is worthy of Mad Magazine. Jack White from The White Stripes ably impersonates Elvis Presley. Shot in verite black-and-white, a riff on D.A. Pennebaker’s doc “Don’t Look Back” shows a press conference where a Dylanish Dewey is asked: “What do you your parents think about your protest songs?” Dewey retorts: “What do your parents think of my protest songs, Mr. Time Magazine?” Ribald innuendo, nasty satire, juvenile yuks and absurdist shtick abound. Laugh hard. With Jenna Fischer, Tim Meadows, Kristen Wiig and Chris Parnell. 115m. (Bill Stamets)