Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

The Judd Apatow comedy factory spoofs the musical biopic with this self-consciously absurd comedy about the life and career of hard-walking music business cliché Dewey Cox. John C. Reilly plays Cox with wide-eyed harmlessness from age 14 (towering over his high-school band mates) to somewhere around 70. In between he gets hooked on every substance known to showbiz, drops acid with the Beatles (played by Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Justin Long and Jason Schwartzman), turns into Brian Wilson for an endless summer, abandons a few dozen children, and meets his soul mate in country-twanged singer Darlene (Jenna Fischer in June Carter mode). Directed by Jake Kasdan (who co-wrote the script with producer Apatow), it's more silly than clever, quoting "Ray" and "Walk the Line" (among other biopics) as Dewey morphs through country, R&B, rock, folk and other musical genres (the often inventive greatest hits lineup is penned by the likes of Marshall Crenshaw and Van Dyke Parks, among others). The two-disc unrated edition includes the extended "Walk Hard -- American Cox: The Unbearable Long, Self-Indulgent Director's Cut," which runs 24 minutes longer, including a greatly expanded Wilson freak-out '60s period, more excruciatingly bad production numbers, and a subplot with Cheryl Tiegs (aka Mrs. Cheryl Cox Tiegs) for the '70s.

The single-disc edition features lively commentary by Kasdan, Apatow, Reilly and executive producer Lew Morton, eight complete song performances, deleted/extended/alternate scenes (including a trippy alternate acid trip), a montage of alternate lines, the real featurette "The Music of Walk Hard" and the completely fictional "The Real Dewey Cox" (which mostly piles on more "Cox" gags). The two-disc unrated edition expands the commentary to fill the longer cut (they explain which scenes were shortened or cut out, and why) and features more extras, including the obligatory "The Making of Walk Hard," the 26-minute fake TV talk show "The Last Word With John Hodgman," eight additional complete song performances (some barely heard in the film), song demos, a bonus Christmas song, and other supplements. Also available in Blu-ray format.