Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Year 2, Day 8 - 1/8/10 - Movie #373

BEFORE: How often do I get to watch a spoof film, right after the film that it's spoofing? (Usually, it seems it's the other way around...) After watching musical bio-pics all week, not only have I determined that the genre needs spoofing, but I've also turned myself into an expert on them, and thus I'm this film's target audience!

THE PLOT: Singer Dewey Cox overcomes adversity to become a musical legend.

AFTER: It's nice when a movie doesn't take itself too seriously - and sometimes it's nice when a movie isn't serious at all. The first half of this film is a perfect parody of "Walk the Line", down to the childhood accident that kills Dewey Cox's brother (with a comic twist, of course) and robs him of a vital sense (smell, as a parody of Ray Charles' blindness).

John C. Reilly plays Dewey Cox from age 14 (which is hilarious, since the actor is obviously over 40) to age 71, with all the trials, tribulations and trips to rehab in between. We see his relationship with his first wife (Kristen Wiig) who stays at home to raise about a dozen babies while Dewey's out on tour, and with Darlene Madison (Jenna Fischer) who starts out as his singing partner but becomes his 2nd wife. Dewey, of course, "forgot" to divorce the first wife before marrying the second one...

The problem is, once Johnny Cash got off the pills and married June Carter, his own biopic sort of found him to be not so interesting, and skipped over about 35 years leading up to his death. This left "Walk Hard" with no material to parody for Dewey's later years, so the movie takes sort of a left turn midway through. Dewey becomes a folk singer in the style of Bob Dylan, becomes an activist for the rights of midgets, goes to India to get high with the Beatles, and hosts a TV variety show in the 1970's.

Actually, I kind of liked the scene with the Beatles because it's such a blatant parody - it's someone's twisted impression of how the Beatles talked to each other, with George talking about his guitar "gently whimpering" and McCartney referring to himself in the third person, so we'll all know who he's supposed to be. The actors who cameoed as the Beatles were not listed in the credits, but they were Jack Black as McCartney, Paul Rudd as Lennon, Jason Schwarzman as Ringo, and my buddy Justin Long as Harrison. For me, this scene made the movie worth watching.

The movie ends with a poke at the "elder statesman" treatment that some of the older rock singers tend to get - Dewey's career heats up again when a rapper samples one of his old songs, and he's coaxed out of retirement with the promise of a "Lifetime Achievement Award" (from who? MTV? The Rock + Roll Hall of Fame?) so we get to hear his signature song performed by Jackson Browne, Jewel and Lyle Lovett, with a rambling introduction by Eddie Vedder.

I chuckled a lot, and laughed out loud a few times, but I think this was largely due to having watched "Walk the Line" the night before. If I had watched this movie first, it probably wouldn't have been quite as funny.

Also starring Tim Meadows and Chris Parnell as members of Dewey's band, David Krumholtz as his manager (Hey, he was the manager in "Ray", too!), with cameos by Harold Ramis, Jane Lynch, John Michael Higgins, Jonah Hill, Jack McBrayer (Kenneth from "30 Rock"), Ed Helms and Craig Robinson (from "The Office"), Frankie Muniz (as Buddy Holly!) and Jack White from the White Stripes (as Elvis Presley!) Whew!

RATING: 7 out of 10 broken sinks

Walk the Line

Year 2, Day 7 - 1/7/10 - Movie #372

BEFORE: Based on my movie week so far, I'm going to go way out on a limb here and predict that Johnny Cash had a rough childhood, humble beginnings in the rural South, was improbably discovered by a record producer, struggled with substance abuse, and had some complicated personal relationships. Then I'll report back after the movie and we'll see how close I came.

THE PLOT: A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame.

AFTER: Nailed it! It turns out these biopics are like gymnastics or ice-skating, there are compulsory plot elements that need to be present to create the maximum drama. So far I haven't been able to prove that they all had the same screenwriters, but if they did it wouldn't really surprise me. So the question becomes, after nailing the requirements, how does each movie do in the freestyle portion of the program?

For most people, that probably comes down to individual preference for the music of the subject at hand. I'm not a big Johnny Cash fan, but I do like some of the covers he did later in his life, like Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" and the Beatles' "In My Life".

This is another one of those big, meaty, Oscar-bait roles, and of course Joaquin Phoenix was nominated, but lost to Philip Seymour Hoffman from "Capote". I'm not that surprised, because Phoenix plays Cash as brash, moody, tempermental with a little crazy on the side. He really comes alive on stage, which shows a big divide between his roles as a family man and an artist - so it comes off as something like a split personality role, something also suggested in "Ray".

Extra points go to Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon for (allegedly) doing their own singing. I'm assuming it's extra tough to look AND sound like a famous person in a biopic.

What I really liked was seeing the development of Cash's signature style - as the movie wears on, his voice gets lower and lower and he appears more and more comfortable belting out his songs. I'm reminded of the film "Gypsy" where you see Gypsy Rose Lee getting more and more polished as a performer, the first time she takes off a glove seductively and the crowd goes wild, so she keeps that in the act and starts working on the best way to remove her dress...until the power of a montage makes her into the world's best stripper. Cash goes through a similar process, noticing that the audiences seem to dig his bass voice and songs, and eventually that's how you end up with "Ring of Fire".

I was pretty impressed with this film, though a little disappointed that Cash did not, in fact, shoot a man in Reno just to watch him die. Maybe that's in the bonus footage on the DVD release... However, Cash seems to have been the first recording artist to completely trash a dressing room, so that's one for the trivia books.

Also starring Robert Patrick (as Cash's father), Tyler Hilton (no relation to Paris) as Elvis Presley, and in a wacky coincidence, Shooter Jennings portraying his own dad, Waylon Jennings.

RATING: 8 out of 10 guitar picks (7 for story + 1 for not lip-synching to the artist's original tracks)

Ray

Year 2, Day 6 - 1/6/10 - Movie #371

BEFORE: Sticking with the music bio-pic theme, and crossing a big one off the list tonight.

THE PLOT: The life and career of the legendary popular music pianist, Ray Charles.

AFTER: What I didn't realize prior to watching all these movies back-to-back was how formulaic they tend to be. I suppose it makes sense - if you watch a secret-agent film, there will be cool gadgets, narrow escapes, and a villain with a secret base willing to detail his whole plot for world domination. Watch an old slapstick comedy and you can expect pies in the face, slipping on banana peels, etc. So why expect music bio-pics to do anything different?

Which is what made "Ray" such Oscar-bait for Jamie Foxx. We see Ray Charles Robinson start from humble beginnings in the South (Oscar voters love people with humble beginnings), become a successful musician with personal problems (Oscar voters like to learn that famous people are not perfect), fall victim to substance abuse (Oscar voters love drunks and drug-addicts), all while dealing with a disability (total Oscar no-brainer...).

I don't mean to take anything away from his performance - it's amazing, and Foxx all but disappears into Ray Charles' skin. And while all the details of this man's life may be true (who am I to say?) it falls JUST short of obvious pandering to the Academy voters.

I found the bits about Charles' blindness, and his methods for dealing with it, to be one of the best things about the movie. Descriptions of how he gets around without a cane or a dog, by listening to the echoes of his shoes, was very insightful. Demanding to be paid only in $1 bills was another example - it makes sense if you think about it.

The movie also has an innovative non-linear timeline, flashing back to Ray's childhood at seemingly random times. I usually hate movies (and comic books) that do this - because it sometimes implies that the story is not strong enough to play out in order. I don't think that's the case here, and we do gain insight to Ray's background at somewhat appropriate times, but it's still a red flag for me.

Of course, the message is the music, and I didn't really know much about Ray's music, outside of owning his 2 Greatest Hits CDs. I didn't know he started out trying to sound like Nat King Cole, or how he developed his signature sound by combining gospel music with the blues. His derivation into "country" music in the early 70's now makes a little more sense as well.

My complaints are as follows: 1) The movie clocks in at over 2 1/2 hours. You can't tell me that a little more editing couldn't have improved the flow - I'm sure a few events in the man's life could have been combined or left on the cutting-room floor and you'd still have a solid, strong film. 2) Ray's girlfriends and mistresses were fairly indistinct - I had trouble keeping track of who was who (turns out he was like the Tiger Woods of the 1960's...) Since they were usually part of the "Raelettes" background singers, with similar hair and gowns, I couldn't keep them all straight - hey, maybe he couldn't either. 3) I could have done without the "Requiem For a Dream"-style footage as Ray endured going cold-turkey in rehab. You had to go "arty", didn't you?

Minor complaints, perhaps - the movie is still an impressive achievement for an actor, and possibly the ultimate in bio-pics. But I still have a few more to go...

Also starring Terrence Howard, Kerry Washington, Regina King (last seen by me in "Enemy of the State") David Krumholtz, Bokeem Woodbine (as Fathead Newman), Larenz Tate (as Quincy Jones), Richard Schiff, and Curtis "Booger" Armstrong (as Atlantic Records king-maker Ahmet Ertegun)

RATING: 7 out of 10 Wurlitzers

What's Love Got To Do With It

Year 2, Day 5 - 1/5/10 - Movie #370

BEFORE: From Chuck Berry and Etta James to Ike and Tina Turner.

THE PLOT: A film about the singer Tina Turner and how she rose to stardom with her abusive husband Ike Turner and how she gained the courage to break free.

AFTER: I'm not a big fan of Tina Turner, except I like to sing Ike's bass part from "Proud Mary" on long car trips for fun...

But her story is an important one, and if any movie in my countdown shows that there's a dark side to fame, then brother, this is it.

Humble working-class beginnings? Check. Improbable discovery by a record-producing "kingmaker"? Check. Drinking, substance abuse and complicated personal relationships? Check, check and check. So far, that formula describes every movie that I've watched this week. But one top of that, we've got Ike Turner's cheatin' and beatin' to deal with, and that's what makes this movie difficult to watch. It's kind of like the afterschool-special of biopics, only much more graphic.

I've seen bits of this movie before, especially the one in the car where Ike tries to salvage his relationship by claiming "I done give up that narcotic", and saying "we got a thing like this HERE" while slamming his fist into his palm. Umm, yeah, that's sort of the problem, Ike.

It's a star turn for Angela Bassett, and she arguably should have won an Oscar for this (over Holly Hunter for "The Piano", I think...) if for no other reason than the great lip-synching to Tina's recordings - I sure couldn't tell she wasn't singing.

Last night's movie had 2 stars of "Law & Order", and tonight we've got 2 stars who were later in "CSI" - Laurence Fishburne, now on the original CSI, and Khandi Alexander, who used to be on "CSI: Miami" in a bit role.

RATING: 6 out of 10 wigs

Cadillac Records

Year 2, Day 4 - 1/4/10 - Movie #369

BEFORE: I enjoyed some of what I call "stunt casting" in last night's film, so here's a film with a lot more of it - featuring stars of today playing the recording artists of the 1950's, like Beyonce as Etta James, and Cedric the Entertainer as Willie Dixon.

THE PLOT: Chronicles the rise of Chess Records and its recording artists.

AFTER: I dug this one, because I didn't know much about the history of Chess Records, or who recorded on that label. The central figures in the movie are the label's founder, Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody, last seen by me in "The Pianist") and Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright). Other musicians come and go, like the aforementioned Willie Dixon and Etta James, and Howlin' Wolf, played in a very scary fashion by Eamonn Walker (Rev. Said from HBO's "Oz").

The film takes its name from Leonard Chess' affinity for Cadillacs, and he likes to buy one for his recording artists whenever they score a hit record. However, in retrospect, they might have been better off with some royalty payments. The label scores by recording what's known at the time as "race music" (later called folk or blues) and bringing it from the Chicago clubs to the radio stations and record stores. Along the way, white people take notice of black music, and the cause of civil rights is advanced somewhat.

The music scene kicks into high gear (and so does the movie) when Chuck Berry (Mos Def) appears on the scene. This is the first time I've been able to stand this guy's acting, after watching him ruin "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and "Be Kind Rewind". But once Chuck speeds up the blues riffs to create rock 'n roll and starts duckwalking across "American Bandstand", the racial divide is breached, white people and black people can finally dance together, and all the world's problems get solved - gee, why didn't Chuck Berry ever get a Nobel Peace Prize?

Well, see, that's where Fame once again proves to be a fickle mistress. Chuck Berry liked the young white girls, and got arrested for transporting a minor across state lines. Muddy Waters is seen sleeping around, too, just not with underage white girls. And Etta James was apparently the Whitney Houston of the 1950's, in more ways than one.

Time marches on, and the blues fell out of vogue, then back in when covered by the Rolling Stones, who show up at the door one day to jam with the Chess artists. Eventually, Chuck Berry sued the Beach Boys for ripping off his "Sweet Little Sixteen" riffs in "Surfin' U.S.A.", (and later John Lennon for stealing lyrics for "Come Together" from "You Can't Catch Me") and Howlin' Wolf sued Led Zeppelin for turning "Killing Floor" into "The Lemon Song" and other similar offenses.

The movie compresses a lot into a short movie, so I'm sure a lot got left out (Bo Diddley, for one...) but at least these guys knew how to party along the way, with their drinking and drugging and sleeping around. Remember, kids, you HAVE to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues. Don't even TRY to sing the blues if you're not current on your dues.

Cameos from not one but TWO stars of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" - both Vincent D'Onofrio and Eric Bogosian play DJs who agree to play Muddy Waters music (for a fee, of course...) and also my bud, character actor Jay O. Sanders in a tiny role as the father of a girl Leonard Chess is interested in, early in the picture.

RATING: 7 out of 10 harmonicas

La Bamba

Year 2, Day 3 - 1/3/10 - Movie #368

BEFORE: Time for a few real-life stories - some bio-pics about the people who DID make it in the music business.

THE PLOT: Biographical story of the rise from nowhere of singer Ritchie Valens.

AFTER: It's no coincidence that "Fame" is only 1 letter away from "Fate". In last night's film, a drummer broke his arm, which led to him being replaced in a band - and the new drummer played their song at a faster tempo, creating a dance hit. In this film, fate seems to have chosen Ricardo Valenzuela for stardom as Ritchie Valens, but fate also places him on a small aircraft on a stormy night...February 3, 1959, known as "The Day the Music Died". I think someone might have written a song about that - but it's an enigmatic one.

The movie leads us to believe that a simple coin toss determined whether Valens or another musician got on that plane - fate, she's a fickle mistress. The movie also suggests that Valens had a life-long fear of flying, after witnessing a plane crash as a child. But was this really part of his make-up, or just poetic license and foreshadowing by the filmmakers? I hate flying in planes myself - I think we should all boycott them until they're somehow made 100% safe, and this whole terrorism thing blows over, but I seem to be in the minority on this. I do take one round-trip business trip a year, and while I'm on the plane, it's tough for me to NOT think about the plane crashing, unless I'm playing trivia on one of those little screens. And forget sleeping on the plane - if the plane goes down, I want to see it coming, I'd rather not wake up dead...

Anyway, Lou Diamond Phillips plays Valens, and Esai Morales plays his no-good half-brother Bob, who's a drunk, a biker, a drug dealer and an aspiring animator (see, you can't trust those animators, always up to no good...). Joe "Joey Pants" Pantoliano (last heard in "Racing Stripes") plays Bob Keane, the record-industry kingmaker who discovers Valens. Good stunt casting is Rick Dees playing a DJ - and GREAT stunt casting is Marshall Crenshaw as Buddy Holly and Brian Setzer as Eddie Cochran ("Summertime Blues") - hey, might as well get some folks in the movie who can sing...unlike Phillips, who lip-syncs (very well, though) to music performed by Los Lobos, who also have a cameo as the Tijuana band that inspires Valens to record the title song...

The movie moved really slow for me, and there wasn't much joy along the way - honestly, if being famous is this problematic, I don't know why people bother.

RATING: 5 out of 10 bottles of tequila

That Thing You Do!

Year 2, Day 2 - 1/2/10 - Movie #367

BEFORE: Continuing the quest for fame + success by putting a band together...

THE PLOT: A Pennsylvania band scores a hit in 1964 and rides the star-making machinery as long as it can, with lots of help from its manager.

AFTER: Oh, so THAT'S where the name of Tom Hanks' production company, Play-Tone, came from...

Tom Hanks wrote and directed this film, and appeared as the band's manager - the year was 1964, the Beatles had just taken over the minds of young Americans, and every man in his late teens or early twenties was learning how to strum a guitar or bang a drum, while trying to come up with a clever name like the Ladybugs or the Cockroaches and going on tour.

Essentially, this IS the Beatles' story, only transplanted to Erie, PA and thinly veiled...the archetypes are basically the same - the withdrawn, moody composer, the brash outgoing drummer, the cute one, and the naive goofy guitarist. This is not just about the 4 guys, it's about the culture of 1964, since after the Beatles broke it seemed like all a band needed was four guys in suits and a catchy hook for a tune.

And the tune is actually a good one - "That Thing You Do!" sounds like the best hit that the Beatles forgot to write. I'd love to see a musical breakdown of it, it's like "Hold Me Tight" in the key of "Thank You Girl" with the lyrics from "Please Please Me"... It's catchier than the band's name, which is the "One-Ders" - it's pronounced like "Wonders", but everyone keep pronouncing it like "O-Needers".

Enter Mr. White (Tom Hanks) from Play-Tone Records, and the band goes on tour to promote the single. They play state fairs and appear in the background of one of those "Beach Party" movies...I used to love those. They get to L.A. and get a taste of the big-time, staying at the Ambassador Hotel and hanging out with starlets and cocktail waitresses.

While in a jazz club, Guy Patterson (Tom Everett Scott) meets his boyhood idol, jazz musician Del Paxton (Bill Cobbs), and Del tells him that bands come and go - they're eventually broken up by women, money, or just time. So he should keep playing music, and watch his money. That's really good advice to keep in mind as we explore the perils of being famous...

Also starring H.M.Y. regular Steve Zahn ("Happy, Texas", "Safe Men"), Liv Tyler, Ethan Embry (Rusty Griswold from "Vegas Vacation") and Charlize Theron, with cameos from Alex Rocco, Peter Scolari, Rita Wilson, Chris Isaak, Kevin Pollak - and Bryan Cranston as astronaut Gus Grissom. Gee, it must be nice to be Tom Hanks, and just open up your rolodex when you want to cast a movie...

This movie gets edged out by "The Commitments" because that band had a repertoire of about a dozen songs, and the Wonders just have the one hit, which they play over and over...it's called showmanship, people.

RATING: 6 out of 10 clock radios