America has a new funnyman in John C. Reilly, the potato-faced actor best known for serious supporting roles in dramas like The Aviator and The Hours.
He turned his image on its head playing Will Ferrell's wingman in Talledega Nights and now, in Walk Hard, Reilly unleashes a comic tornado. He's Dewey Cox, tortured bluesman, country singer, rock pig and folk troubadour.
We start with him bracing himself before he goes on stage. That's because Dewy needs to think about his whole life before he sings.
We flashback to his hardscrabble childhood in the South, where he suffers a childhood trauma that will haunt him all his days. Leaving home as a teen, he immediately hits the big time with his inspirational song Walk Hard. From there it's a rollercoaster of drugs, women, fame, fortune and madness before Dewey claws his way back to the top.
If it all sounds achingly familiar, that's because, as the title suggests, this mercilessly lampoons Walk The Line, with a good measure of Ray thrown in.
Reilly carries the movie, but there's also very funny support from Jenna Fischer as the Cox-teaser who becomes Dewy's wife, and from Tim Meadows as his long-suffering drug-soaked drummer.
The script by Judd Apatow and director Jake Kasdan is a rapid fire assault of sharp satire, slapstick and sheer silliness.
Rather than just parodying recent musical biopics, Walk Hard casts its net wider to give Dewy a hysterical Bob Dylan phase and has him encountering The Beatles. These scenes, coming almost back to back, had me dehydrated because I was crying so hard with laughter.
Walk Hard does tail off towards the end and a few of the gags don't work but it doesn't matter as these dud jokes are almost welcome for the breather they give you.
It's too early to call Walk Hard is the funniest movie of 2008 but it is the funniest movie I've seen since Borat - Walk Hard rates four stars and is in cinemas now.
