- guardian.co.uk,
- Friday May 16 2008 14:36 BST
The huge success of Ray and Walk the Line ensured a spoof music bio, just as Scream led to Scary Movie. Fortunately with better results. Co-writer Judd Apatow is a good few rungs up the comedy ladder from the Wayans brothers. It's not going to go anywhere near knocking Spinal Tap or The Rutles off their rock spoof comedy perch, though; it is far too scattershot for that. But it does have some lovely moments: the best by far is the lascivious song Let's Duet, which sets John C Reilly's title character and the on and offstage romancing he's doing with Jenna Fischer to music in a very Cash-and-Carter way. It starts "In my dreams, you're blowing me ... some kisses. You and I could go down ... in history" and continues to lay on ace double entendres, while simultaneously staying true to its genre. It's by Brit Rod Temperton, who wrote Thriller and some of the soundtrack for Boogie Nights, probably the most memorable previous role for John C Reilly, who takes the lead here. A fine character actor (he also got an Oscar nomination for Chicago) Reilly is surprisingly catapulted into a lead role aged 42.
It's a running gag that the stars portrayed are invariably referred to by both names, as if for the historically challenged part of the audience, as in "That was freakin' transcendental, Paul McCartney". Our hero goes from humble country boy to mainlining acid - even Amy hasn't done that yet - a comeback TV special and his own giraffe. There are lots of celeb-as-celeb moments, including Jacks White and Black as Presley and McCartney, but by making its lead character such a musical chameleon - including a Dylan phase that turns the movie black and white in homage to Don't Look Back - it badly loses focus. And Reilly's character's name ensures that there will be a few dick jokes along the way.
