A surprisingly crude parody, which works pretty well in most scenes. Though there’s a bit too much “wink-wink-nudge-nudge” kind of parody, where the cast is too in on the joke to make it work. Most parody films these days forget what the Zucker films knew how to do back in the early years when they were back at their peak - write the material funny, but play it serious.

Writing: With the primary target being Walk The Line, this movie nails most of the comedic potential of that biopic. It touches on a great many other films of the genre. Some of the best humor is found in running gags (a particularly favorite kind of humor for me). There’s also some fun with the music industry in general, and some of the legendary acts over the decades. Of particular amusement is a scene featuring a fun assortment of cameos playing The Beatles.

Production: Director Jake Kasdan is, frankly, better than this material. And while it may be his weakest film, he still manages to make something of it. Extra effort is given to hitting many of the stylistic marks of the music biopic, and as expect, Walk The Line in particular. Cinematography features some gritty and contrast heavy lighting, lensed quite well in anamorphic scope. Editing is well done, playing the jokes with pretty good timing.

Cast: John C. Reilly is somebody who has spent most of his acting career as a supporting actor, in both drama and comedy. After his hilarious work in Talladega Nights, I wasn’t surprised to find out somebody had given him a comedic lead. And he works well in the role, though like much of the film hits the comedy a bit too on-the-nose. Jenna Fischer is charming and funny as his on-again off-again, June Carter inspired romantic interest. Supporting performances are fun. Tim Meadows is quite funny as the band member responsible for starting all of Dewey’s vices (in my favorite running joke). And David Krumholtz is fun as his agent. Then there are the countless cameo appearances, most of which are quite funny. I won’t mention them, as it’s more fun to be surprised by them. Let’s just say that The Beatles aren’t quite what you remember them to be.

Music: Michael Andrews does a nice job with the material. Being a movie that features songs heavily, the score tends to function mostly as the glue to hold together the songs. It does that and works on a core scoring level as well. Not a spectacular score, or one worth raving about, but it’s certainly good enough.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 25th, 2007 at 2:42 am and is filed under Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.