Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is the best parody since the original Naked Gun. A hilarious send up of musician bio-pics (i.e. Ray, Walk the Line) co-written by 2007's king of comedy - Judd Apatow.

Walk Hard traces the life of iconic musician Dewey Cox and his long, arduous, road to fame. Spanning decades, this sprawling comedy of epic proportions examines this compelling legends' bout with drugs and infidelity, but more importantly, Walk Hard is all about the music.

The parody is virtually non-existent these days. We've had films like Date Movie and Epic Movie plaguing cinemas in the past couple of years, but neither of those pictures had the foggiest idea of what a parody really is. The film makers behind Walk Hard understand that merely making fun of other movies does not a parody make. Great parody also requires rhythm, spot on comic timing, intelligence, courage and energy. The Dewey Cox Story has all of these traits in spades.

John C. Reilly is an absolute riot as the clueless but lovable Cox. He and the rest of the cast play it dead straight right down the line and that is a big key to the film's overall success. Furthermore, Reilly has a surprisingly strong singing voice. Throughout the movie, he is required to sing in several different styles and whether he's doing tunes inspired by Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, or The Sex Pistols, this hilarious actor is always up to the challenge.

Director Jake Kasdan (who also made this year's terrific The T.V. Set) keeps things fast and loose. He and his crew do a terrific job recreating the various time periods the story rambles through. In addition, he's fashioned a hilarious screenplay with Judd Apatow. There are certainly chunks of the picture that are improvised, but the framework and the environment that was created to allow these actors to do their thing all starts with Kasdan and Apatow. Beyond the onslaught of musician bio pic cliches, Walk Hard has numerous memorable moments to speak of - including a hilarious sequence between Reilly and The Office's Jenna Fischer that redefines the term "sexual tension," and a side splitting scene in which a clash of egos erupts amongst The Beatles.

Walk Hard is dumb at times. There's no doubt about that. But it's extremely smart in it's execution. Mostly though, it's just funny. Really funny. Ten laughs per minute funny. The creator of Knocked Up and Superbad caps off a banner year with the energetic Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, a raunchy parody full of brilliantly conceived songs and a surprising amount of charm. Walk, run or ride, but get yourself to this one and be ready to laugh hard.