What happens when the satire is actually better than the movies it mocks?

Rating: 10/10 (12 April 2008)

Americans are getting very good at this satire genre. This film is a spot-on parody of every cliché-infested fake country music bio you have ever seen (despite the great performances) from "Coal Miner's Daughter" to "I Walk the Line" - which I remember hating for all the things it was not, mainly truthful and meaningful. Every single medical emergency and unwanted pregnancy is there, every ghost from the past, every shameful substance abuse and rehab episode and encounter with the greats of musicdom. The songs cover an extremely wide range from pre-rock to hip-hop, by way of folk, psychedelia and disco. The hero even goes through a "Brian Wilson" period, which is musically the most complex and challenging part of the film. So much attention has been paid to the writing, the performance and the arrangements of the songs, in fact, in this film, that (1) it should have won Oscars for everyone involved, (2) this is the best original musical in a long time besides being a very good comedy and (3) the DVD has something like three hours of extras, deleted scenes unused songs and jokes, on top of the longer 2 hour version, all memorable and funny. And John C. Reilly has the voice of Roy Orbison with a lot more versatility. The man is a chameleon and a very underrated actor. All of which makes this film a much more sincere homage to American music than any single biopic it makes fun of.