The parody subgenre once gave us comedy classics like Young Frankenstein, Airplane!, Top Secret!, and The Naked Gun. This glorious tradition has been disgracefully violated in recent years by the likes of the cleverly titled Epic Movie and Date Movie. (As for the latter -- a spoof of comedies? Outstanding idea!) Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, a parody of musical biopics like Walk the Line and Ray, marks the pretty damn triumphant return of the spoof film. The movie also marks the return of Judd Apatow, and I'm pleased to report that Walk Hard completes a 2007 hat trick for the man. It easily joins Knocked Up and Superbad to form the unholy trinity of the year's superior comedies.

Starting in fictional rock star Dewey Cox's boyhood Tennessee home and ending some sixty years later after his bouts with women, booze, and pills, the film traces the blood pumping rise...of Cox. (First and last Cox joke, I promise.) The script gets Cox making music quickly, and good thing. I'm not sure why the first ten minutes of Walk Hard were released online as part of the marketing plan, they're easily the weakest scenes of the film. But once John C. Reilly enters the picture, portraying Cox at age fourteen despite being 25 years older (a dig at Kevin Spacey in Beyond the Sea?), it's pretty much smooth sailing.

The stars of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story recently made their way to the offices of Columbia Pictures in Manhattan and did some roundtable interviews about the film. The highlight of the day was probably John C. Reilly comparing the film's money -- Willie the Chimp -- to Elvis's pet chimp Scatter and pointing out that Scatter ended up freezing to death in an outdoor cage while the Dewey Cox monkey was given a good home in Northern California after his usefulness came to an end. Other than that, it was pretty much what you might expect -- lots of questions about the life and times of Dewey Cox, the occasional question about the strike and how it's affecting actors, and assorted other tidbits. Here are some samples from the roundtables of John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer.


John C. Reilly

You have to navigate a lot of different musical styles in this film.

Yeah, it really suited me well, I thought. As an actor I kind of think of myself as a chameleon, you know? Not really someone who plays my own personality. I'm not even really sure what my own personality is. I'm sort of a collection of the characters I've played. So playing all these different musical styles was great for me because rather than having to pick one thing that I was gonna specialize in, I could just go with the times like Dewey does. That was one of the things, as we kind of discover the character -- we recorded the music six months before we made the movie and we recorded something like 40 original songs. After we did a couple of songs we were trying to figure out, as we go from the 50s to the 60s, how is this guy gonna change with the times? Who is he? And I said to Jake that we should just decide what the guy's nickname is, because once we have the nickname then it gives us a guide to where to go with the music. So we kept recording music and it became apparent, the guy's nickname is The Chameleon or The Changeling or The Shape-Shifter. Dewey's almost like this Forrest Gump-like character -- he transforms with the times

How did you decide on what music to include?

Well, it was a few different things. The songs needed to be funny but they also needed to be really listenable, because there's so much music in the movie. We didn't want it to be just silly joke songs that would be tough to listen to, you know? Also, the musicians involved had a lot of pride on the line. They weren't going to just make some thing that sounds stupid. So yeah, we were trying to make stuff sound good and be funny but also be specific to the character, and that's why it was really helpful to have Jake Kasdan, the director, there in the recording studio every day when we were making this music. Sometimes we'd be trying to evoke a certain artist and other times and other times we were just trying to make the song fit into a time period and other times we were just trying to have the song reflect what the character was going through at a different point in the movie.

The Judd Apatow gang always markets the crap out of their movies, and the promotional blitz is in full force for their latest, Walk Hard. Posters are everywhere, they released the "R" Rated international trailer to the internets, they took out a very cool "For Your Consideration" ad in The Hollywood Reporter, and John C. Reilly is rocking the country on the "Cox Across America" tour, which I was lucky enough to check out this week. And now you can watch the first ten minutes of the film online! Head over to http://rocklikecox.com/myspace/ to enjoy. If you figure it costs ten bucks to see a movie, and the movie is 100 minutes -- this is one dollar's worth of entertainment for free!

You have to verify your age to see the clip -- the film is Rated "R" after all, but this ten minutes is strictly "PG." Sorry, folks. (By the way, has anyone under the age of 18 ever been dissuaded by an age verification? You can enter any birthdate you want! It's not like they're asking for a thumb print or something! Fools! Let's move on.) The clip mainly focuses on Dewey as a boy, played by Conner Rayburn, and it builds to a 14 year-old Dewey's declaration "Just wait 'till you see what happens now." I must say, I only laughed out loud once during the clip -- the line "How are we gonna follow that?" got to me -- but I have a feeling this is going to be a very funny movie. I'm checking it out Wednesday night, and I'm muy excitedo. How about you guys, thoughts on the opening scenes?

Monday night I had the privilege of seeing Dewey Cox -- better known as John C. Reilly -- live at The Roxy ("Coxy") Theater on the Sunset Strip. Cox and his band The Hard Walkers put on a hell of a show, tearing through all the hits from Cox's glorious career -- soon to be given the big screen treatment in Walk Hard. Reilly came out of the gate ready to rock, and stayed in character all night. He came off like a cruder, nastier Elvis Presley -- guzzling tequila, repeatedly calling us all "motherf***ers, making a downright overwhelming amount of "Cox" jokes, and asking a woman in the audience if he could grab her breast. And grab he did!

But what about the music? Cox performed nearly every track from the Walk Hard soundtrack, and considering this was his "first performance since 1984," he was in fine voice. Reilly dropped out of tune for a song or two but on the whole he sounded pretty terrific, especially on the strangely affecting Roy Orbison homage "A Life Without You (Is No Life at All)." Other standouts included the Johnny Cashtastic "Guilty as Charged," the rollicking "You've Got to Love Your Negro Man," and the hilariously offensive protest song "Dear Mr. President." Reilly played guitar and harmonica pretty well, but since the actors in Cox's movie band (Chris Parnell, Tim Meadows) don't really play, they had to watch on from the audience -- along with co-writer/director Jake Kasdan and Judd Apatow -- while a stand-in group of musicians rocked the house.

The show closed with a shirtless Cox moaning through the beguiling "Have You Heard the News (Dewey Cox Died)," rubbing his nipples, and throwing down his microphone. I can't imagine anyone leaving the theater disappointed, and if the live show is any indication, Walk Hard is going to be one hysterical movie. Wanna see Cox? There's still a few dates left on the "Cox Across America" mini-tour.

Check out the gallery below ...

Hey, it's good enough for Spinal Tap, Hannah Montana and The Monkees. Now Dewey Cox, of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, is the latest fictional music artist to go on a real-life tour. Yes, according to Variety, John C. Reilly is suiting up to perform in character for the "Cox Across America Tour." Joined by his band, the Hard Walkers, Reilly/Cox is making appearances in seven cities: Cleveland; Chicago; Austin; Nashville; San Francisco; Los Angeles and New York City. The first gig is this Wednesday at Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and all shows include a screening of the movie, a music biopic spoof from the smartest man in Hollywood, Judd Apatow, and director Jake Kasdan (The TV Set).

Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, only the Chicago date is not sold out. My guess is that by the time of posting, even that show will be unavailable, but feel free to check Sony's RSVP page to find out. Otherwise, you can at least hear Cox's music on the Walk Hard soundtrack, which hits stores today.

I certainly wouldn't mind seeing Reilly as Cox. I also wish I could have seen Reilly tour the nation as Lefty, his character from A Prairie Home Companion -- accompanied by Woody Harrelson as Dusty, of course. If I could see any fictional artist in concert, though, I'd pick The Venus in Furs, or maybe Jesse and the Rippers. How about you? What fictional band or artist would you most like to see go on tour?

Anyway, stay tuned to Cinematical because we're working on something special to coincide with the "Cox Across America Tour."

Other than a few "f-bombs" and a positive endorsement of marijuana, there really isn't all that much in the new international trailer for Judd Apatow's musical spoof, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story that could be considered particularly controversial. This is a film from the same man who brought us Superbad and Knocked Up, so it's not like we weren't already expecting drug references and potty mouth. Thankfully, in the age of the Yellow Band trailer, anything goes. You can check out the trailer now over on YouTube, or look for it after the jump. Walk Hard stars John C. Reilly as Dewey Cox, Jenna Fischer as his long-suffering love, and Tim Meadows as Dewey's long-time drummer and friend. Jake Kasdan (Orange County) directed and also helped write the script along with Apatow. This time, rather than just riff on the dramatic spoof angle, this one goes straight for the belly laugh. Not necessarily a bad choice, but I still like the overt seriousness of the first trailer (but that could just be me).

So despite not being completely blown away by what I've seen, there still seems to plenty of giggles to be had -- plus you have to love a 'For Your Consideration' ad that has the star flipping off the camera. We've been reporting on the film for a while now, and can you blame us? Now that 'R' rated comedy is finally getting the respect it deserves, it's just nice to go to the movies without a "tween" in sight. Walk Hard was originally set for release this month, but instead the movie hits theaters on December 21.

About a year ago I was sure that Rob Corddry would be the next big thing to come out of The Daily Show. But now it looks like Ed Helms could pass him by. While Corddry waits around for his new show The Winner to get canceled (if it hasn't been killed already), Helms is busy setting up a good amount of decent movie gigs, including a starring role in A Whole New Hugh, which he will co-write and which Judd Apatow will produce. The movie, which was pitched to Universal by Helms, Jake Fleisher and Ian Berger, will be about a guy who gains confidence thanks to three friends who make him appear successful.

I'm glad for Helms, though I don't see him having enough appeal to be the next Steve Carell. I am also surprised by his sudden rise because the last thing I saw him in was Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story, in which Corddry starred and Helms merely had a cameo. What likely has helped Helms' success is his obnoxious run on The Office, co-starring with Carell, his former Daily Show cast mate. Other upcoming movies Helms can be seen in include Evan Almighty, where he'll again be supporting Carell, Starship Dave and Walk Hard, which stars The Office's Jenna Fischer. Both he and Corddry have parts in Harold and Kumar 2, so maybe he could give his old friend some tips on breaking out.

David Krumholtz is doing what everybody in comedy should be doing right now: aligning himself with Judd Apatow. Krumholtz has not one but two deals going with uber-producer Apatow, the man who directed The 40 Year-Old Virgin and this summer's Knocked Up (which I just saw and is near perfect.) Krumholtz will write and star in Attorneys at Raw, and will play a slimy record producer in Walk Hard. Attorneys at Raw will be produced by Apatow, and is said to be a comedy about two young attorneys who decide they want to become rappers. As long as Jamie Kennedy or Matthew Lillard doesn't play the other guy, that could be funny. I dig the title. We've given you lots of Walk Hard news lately, it is the mock biopic of fictional singer Dewey Cox, starring John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Kristen Wiig, and David Koechner. That film was written by Apatow and Jake Kasdan and is being directed by Kasdan.

Even if you don't know Krumholtz's name, odds are you know his face. He had a memorable scene singing "Luck Be a Lady" in his tighty-whities in Slums of Beverly Hills, played a great stoner in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, and will next appear in Live!, a mockumentary with Eva Mendes. He also stars in the CBS drama Numb3rs, which I h3ar is pr3tty n3at. Krumholtz has worked with Apatow before, on his short-lived television classics Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. I imagine his role in Walk Hard will be a spoof of his role as Milt Shaw in Ray, although I'm not sure anyone will make the connection.