I loved John C. Reilly in TALLADEGA NIGHTS, so it isn't surprising that I'd give this film a look. Overall, it's a real mixed bag--with some hilarious comedy, excellent singing by Reilly but also an amazing amount of completely unnecessary crudity that would prevent me from strongly recommending the film. With only a bit of editing, this film could easily have been rated PG-13 and been a good film for teens as well as adults.

The first ten minutes of the film are probably the best, as you see a young Dewey Cox and his brother playing together. You just have to see it to believe it--especially the dreaded "machete incident". It was obvious that this was NOT a movie that was meant to be taken very seriously. I also loved soon after that when they showed 40-something Reilly as a 14 year-old. It was really stupid and confusing---and I liked these ridiculous aspects of the film. What follows is a decades long saga involving Cox--one of the dumbest, most selfish and self-destructive singers in history. During this journey, the Cox character incorporates bits and pieces of many rock-n-roll lives--with obvious nods to Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Brian Wilson and many, many others. I particularly liked the sequence where Cox hung out with the Beatles in India--the dialog was really goofy.

However, despite laughing repeatedly, the film also suffered from occasional lulls but especially from crudeness. Three separate times the film showed a closeup shot of a penis. There really wasn't any reason for this. It wasn't funny and it seemed to be included gratuitously. Additionally, several sex scenes were rather explicit as well. Had the nudity been excised, it wouldn't have noticeably harmed the picture and made it more accessible to teens--who should be a large audience for the film--especially since it does have a decent anti-drug message most of the time (showing what an idiot Cox became each time he used). As a result, I strongly recommend that parents act like adults and not let their kids see this movie. Even for a rated R film, it's amazingly graphic.

In 1946 Springberry, Alabama, Dewey Cox accidentally chop his brother Nate in half with a machete. As a teenager, Dewey (John C. Reilly) gains local success but he's condemned for playing Satan music. His father kicks him out leaving with his 12 year old girlfriend Edith (Kristen Wiig). It's hard. It's a long, hard walk. He will Walk Hard.

It's a fun mockbio. It's mostly sharp deadpan comedy. John C. Reilly is great. It spoofs all the big clichés. Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan skewered the music bio genre with this script. It's just great and nothing is off limits. It's not over the top spoof like the Abrahams and Zucker or worst the Wayans. Reilly is playing Dewey Cox almost straight but just dumb. The ridiculous stuff happens to him. It may hit wrong for the audience because they're expecting wild ridiculous spoof. It's a little different than that.

Walk Hard is a parody of musical biopics such as Ray and Walk the Line. Dewey Cox is mostly based on Johnny Cash.

Dewey Cox (John C Reilly) is a poor farm boy growing up in Alabama. In 1946 as a child, Dewey accidentally chops his brother Nate in half with a machete while they were playing. You knew this would happen as his brother took part in dangerous activities while proclaiming he would live to a ripe old age.

This incident causes a rift with his father who keeps telling Dewey that the wrong son died and Dewey loses his sense of smell.

As a teenager, Dewey gains notoriety for playing the devil's music and he leaves town to make his own way at the age of 14 with his 12 year old girlfriend Edith (Kristen Wiig.)

Dewey gets his big break in a black nightclub where they play music to have sex to, as Dewey replaces the main singer at the last minute. The Hasidic Jewish record executives at the show get him an audition with a record producer where Dewey suddenly pulls out a hit song.

As the years go by Dewey tries to deal with his childhood trauma by taking a wide variety of drugs even though his drummer pleads with him not to try them. He also never pays for the drugs.

Dewey has an affair with his backing singer Darlene (Jenna Fischer) who he marries while still being married to Edith. Dewey later finds out he had lots of children.

As tastes change Dewey tries different musical genres to stay relevant, there is even a trippy, hippy animated pert in India with the Beatles.

Written by Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan, this is one of the better spoofs as it tries to be fresh and avoid lazy retreads which a lot of post Zucker Abrahams Zucker parodies has done.

Reilly is very convincing as Dewey Cox because he plays it straight, you would actually think Dewey is a real country music star which is actually alluded to in the post credit sequence.

The Beatles sequence with the bad scouse accents was the most fun. It certainly is an entertainingly silly spoof and there are a lot of star cameos.