The Reilly factor

At the risk of spoiling his amusing new movie's funniest jokes—namely, the songs themselves—hometown kid John C. Reilly appeared last night at the Cubby Bear to perform songs from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

Naturally, he performed in character, and his appreciative audience (one that had turned out despite snow and another round of Red Line rerouting) went wild every time he asked them if they liked Cox. Among the songs performed  were the title ballad, "Mojo Workin'," "A Life Without You (Is No Life At All)" and Dewey's hilarious early-Dylan pastiche "Let Me Hold You (Little Man)," in which he sticks up for America's midget underclass. ("Your big day will come/When they remake The Wizard of Oz.")

He'd been in Cleveland the night before but was apparently glad to be home. "They say Cleveland rocks," he said. "Well, Cleveland eats ass compared to Chicago." He promptly downplayed criticism from the Clevelanders in the room.

As promotional stunts go, this is a pretty good one, and it proves, if nothing else, that Reilly can really sing. Frankly, any actor who wants awards for a singing role should have the stones to belt a tune without the benefit of post-production. Are you up to the challenge, Johnny Depp?