A Mighty Wind (7/10 Rating)

Released April 16, 2003

For rent/purchase on all major platforms.

Genre: Comedy, Music

PG-13: Sex-Related Humor

1h 31m

This is the fourth film from Christopher Guest, following This Is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, and Best in Show. If you are familiar with those films, you will certainly recognize most of the cast in this one. Even those not familiar with Guest’s mockumentaries will notice quite a few character actors. Guest’s style is not for everyone, and you can likely decide to watch this one based on your enjoyment of the aforementioned titles. After about 10 or 15 minutes, you will have an idea if this movie will work for you or not. It is not quite as silly as the Monty Python or Scary Movie series, but it certainly has a lot of fun with the subject matter. Here, Guest and co-writer Eugene Levy take on fictional folk singers from the 1960s as they prepare for a reunion memorializing a deceased concert promoter. There’s the Folksmen, a trio made up of Guest, Michael McKean (Better Call Saul), and Harry Shearer, which was originally a sketch performed on SNL in the mid-80s and later the opening act during Spinal Tap tours. The fictional trio is loosely based on The Kingston Trio. Another fictional band, The New Main Street Singers, is a parody of the New Christy Minstrels. Finally, Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek) and Eugene Levy play Mitch & Mickey, a former couple that released multiple hit albums but have since had a dramatic breakup, making for an awkward reunion. Majority of the comedy relies on the improvised acting and the realness each actor brings to their role. The film edges just close enough to absurdity while maintaining the fact that we could be watching a documentary about real people. It reminds us that these characters and situations are not far off from reality and that realization almost leads to embarrassed laughter at ourselves for feeding the popularity of some very cringy things, especially in our more youthful years. It’s easy to watch this film and judge our parents or grandparents for the things they enjoyed in the 60s, but no matter what your age, look back in thirty or forty years or so and you are sure to question many of the interests we as a society obsessed over, especially our music choices.

Also check out: House of 1000 Corpses (6/10), Identity (7/10), X2: X-Men United (7/10), Beyond Re-Animator (4/10), A Man Apart (4/10), Phone Booth (5/10) (follow @jlucia85 for these reviews and more)