Ever since we were a wee website we’ve followed the mythology of fake rock bands. We came of age during Spinal Tap’s reign, were Tenacious D-votees, and have been known to bang our heads to Dethklok. Our latest obsession: Dewey Cox, whose life story is outlined in the charming and cheeky “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” (full disclosure: Aperture Music are the music supervisors on the film and they program our podcasts). The film manages to — dare we say it — walk the line, thumbing it’s nose at the notions of the bloated biopic while simultaneously paying tribute to it, because Dewey, dammit, has heart.

John C. Reilly is Dewey Cox, traipsing and trampling through musical styles like those of Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, and Brian Wilson. The film’s title track was written by Marshall Crenshaw (and nominated recently for a Golden Globe), with other contributions coming from Mike Viola and folkie Dan Bern, who pens two of the best songs from the soundtrack — “Royal Jelly,” from Dewey’s Dylan period, and “(Have You Heard) Dewey Cox Died?,” which flashes forward past Dewey’s death so he can sing about it. Have a listen:

Dewey Cox - “Royal Jelly”
Dewey Cox - “(Have You Heard) Dewey Cox Died?“

The movie also has Kristen Wiig (hot!) and Jenna Fischer (cute!) as Dewey’s two wives, plus a zillion cameos from real rock stars and actors alike. And if all that isn’t enough for you, here’s a Cox stocking stuffer: “(For Christmas) The People Want Cox.”.

The film opens Friday and was directed and co-written by Jake Kasdan.

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