Continuing in the hilarious vein that started way back with Rob
Reiner’s still wonderful
”
This Is Spinal Tap,
”
as well as his own
”
Waiting For Guffman
”
and
”
Best In Show,
”
Christopher Guest now brings us his latest
”
mockumentary,
”
a spot-on satire of the folk music industry called
”
A Mighty Wind.
”
It’s certainly the funniest film of the year so far, regardless
of how much you know about the artists or traditions of folk
music.
Continuing in the hilarious vein that started way back with Rob Reiner’s still wonderful “This Is Spinal Tap,” as well as his own “Waiting For Guffman” and “Best In Show,” Christopher Guest now brings us his latest “mockumentary,” a spot-on satire of the folk music industry called “A Mighty Wind.” It’s certainly the funniest film of the year so far, regardless of how much you know about the artists or traditions of folk music.
Borrowing liberally from folk music documentaries like “Wasn’t That a Time,” which featured the Weavers on their reunion tour in the mid 1980s, Guest crafts a wonderful comedy that disguises itself as a real world documenatary.
It’s fun to see the documentary format being made fun of, because the non-fiction genre is usually so darn serious. Guest realizes this, and pushes the comic envelope to the same hights as the films mentioned earlier. The movie’s just a lot of great fun.
“A Mighty Wind” centers itself around a reunion concert for some aging folk groups who were wildly successful during the folk heyday of the 1960s. But now it’s almost 40 years later, and some of the groups haven’t performed together in decades. Watching the rehearsals, where the artists try to recreate the magic of their younger days, is priceless comedy in a film filled with funny moments.
The folk groups called to perform in the reunion concert even have funny names, as Johnathan (Bob Balaban) sets up the event to celebrate his deceased father, who was the top folk music promoter of the ’60s. The New Main Street Singers, the Folksmen (Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, who were all “members” of Spinal Tap) and Mitch and Mickey, who are played as frustrated ex-lovers by the wonderful Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy.
The songs in “A Mighty Wind” have a strong resemblance to hits by groups like Peter, Paul and Mary and other folk groups like The Lovin’ Spoonful, and are funny while still remaining true to the musical form.
The relationship between Mitch and Mickey is the funniest, and almost the most painful, as we watch the former couple open old wounds which are complicated by the new emotional strife that the reunion causes. Catherine O’Hara, certainly one of the funniest women around, and Eugene Levy, who gets little credit for being a savvy comedic actor, are phenomenal in the film as Mitch and Mickey, whose story provides the central comedic conflict in the movie.
Back are the Guest regulars, phenomenal talents like Fred Willard, who played the hilarious television commentator in “Best In Show,” and the underrated Ed Begley, Jr., who has been in all of Guest’s films, as well as the film that started it all, “This is Spinal Tap.”
The music was actually written and performed by Guest and the actors who play the folkies, reminiscent of Robert Altman’s “Nashville,” where he encouraged his cast to do the same.
“A Mighty Wind” is terrific entertainment, a comedy that loves the genre it skewers.
A MIGHTY WIND. Directed by Christopher Guest. Written by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy. With Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Fred Willard, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, Bob Balaban, Parker Posey, Ed Begley Jr. and Harry Shearer. Rated PG-13 (sexual humor and language), 92 minutes. Now playing at Bay Area theaters.
