A Mighty Wind
Originally Written: April 2003
Christopher Guest must be stopped. Comedies this smart, hilarious, and memorable aren’t supposed to be coming from a major studio. Talent this creative should be squelched(?) under the weight of corporate executives who care more for the bottom line than originality. Who let Guest slip through the cracks after he co-wrote the classic “This is Spinal Tap” (A-), and then co-wrote and directed the under-the-rader “Waiting for Guffman” (A) and much-beloved “Best in Show” (B+)? Bless them.
“A Mighty Wind” is probably Guest’s finest and funniest “mockumentary” yet. In a throwback to the musical mayhem of “Tap,” Guest and co-writer Eugene Levy (Jim’s dad in “American Pie,” “Bringing Down the House”) take on another musical genre ripe for satire- folk music of the ’50s and ’60s- as they stage a tribute concert to a fictional pioneer in folk with three fictional stars- The Folksman (played by Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, i.e. Spinal Tap), Mitch and Mickey (Levy and Catherine O’Hara, both brilliant), and The New Main Street Singers (including the irreplacable Parker Posey and Jane Lynch, managed by “Best in Show’s” memorable scene-stealer Fred Willard). No fare giving away more except to say the original folk diddies are toe-tappers, the performances are inspired, the emotion is poignant, and the comedy is laugh-out-loud funny. Whether you’ve seen all of Guest’s “mockumentary” triumphs or none of them, you owe it to yourself to see this one. From the looks of it, comedies will rarely be funnier this year.
