Christopher Guest is
one of the funniest men alive today. If you do not
remember him from hilarious and downright brilliant
performances in "This Is Spinal Tap" and
"The Princess Bride", you might recall the two
films he directed, "Waiting for Guffman" and
"Best in Show", two of the funniest films ever
made and incredible testaments to his immense talent as a
comedian.
His latest mockumentary, "A Mighty Wind",
follows in the footsteps of his past directorial efforts.
The film focuses on beloved folk music promoter Irving
Steinbloom. After he dies, his son Jonathan (Bob
Balaban) sets out to organize a concert featuring some of
Irving's most beloved acts. Those acts include:
the peppy and hyper New Main Street Singers, the Folksmen
(Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean), and
the estranged Mitch and Mickey (Eugene Levy and Catherine
O'Hara). The film follows the promoter and the three
acts in their journey to the concert (the concert takes up
a large portion of the film, as it is shot and performed
like an actual concert and we get to see everything0.
"A Mighty Wind" does for folk music what
"This Is Spinal Tap" did for heavy metal rock.
I enjoyed the way in which Guest laid off the characters
some. In his past two films, which dealt with a
community theatrical performance and a renowned dog show,
Guest did not make fun of the people, but did give them
abundant amounts of hell. In "A Mighty
Wind", the cynicism is not as heavy and we actually
feel like we are watching a real documentary.
The film belongs to Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara as
Mitch and Mickey. Their performances are flawless.
The best thing about those two characters is that they are
able to be wholly emotional and sympathetic, yet maintain
their humorous undertones. In fact, there are some
sequences in the film which are ultimately heartbreaking,
as when Mitch reveals his insecurity over being able to
remember lyrics, and a romance with Mickey that never was.
Levy and O'Hara handle those moments miraculously.
Other performance highlights include Ed Begley, Jr. as
Lars, a television executive who cannot help but throw a
little Yiddish into his normal speech and conversations.
I also enjoyed Harry Shearer as folk rocker Alan Burrows.
Rumor has it that Shearer was very hard to land for this
film. If you recall, he was one of the principal
stars of "This Is Spinal Tap" and he was afraid
he would end up being typecast into the same genre if he
made another musical mockumentary. But, the man
behind most of the voices of "The Simpsons" did
not disappoint. In fact, none of the performances
are disappointing.
"A Mighty Wind" is a sweet and hilarious film
about the world of folk music and three of the fictional
bands who made it so successful. Christopher Guest
has delivered another flawless comedy and should, now, be
considered as the premiere comedy director around today.
He has such an eye for detail and such an eye for humor.
I absolutely loved this film, and I do believe that Levy
and O'Hara should be considered for Academy Award
recognition for their amazing performances. I had
forgotten how great of actors they actually were. I
will not forget again.
This is a pretty weird movie, and it's not as funny as "Best in Show" was. There are some real hilarious scenes, but only like 3 or 4, the rest is just too-detailed characters talking...and Eugene Levy, who kicks ass in everything he does, was ANNOYING! His constipated-sounding character was like nails on the blackboard to me. But, these movies (Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman included) are just fun to watch...they're mock-umentaries. I loved the jokes involving the set production, I was cracking up. It was also nice to see Harry Shearer in the flesh, but I swear, sometimes Homer and Rev. Lovejoy popped in! If you enjoyed any of the following movies, then you should see A Mighty Wind: The Princess Bride, This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, and Best in Show, otherwise, you probably won't like it.
