A Mighty Wind: Review By danteaciampaglia

Very few filmmakers can create a mockumentary as well as Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Michael McKean and their troupe of comedic talents. From their minds, "This is Spinal Tap," "Waiting for Guffman" and "Best in Show" were sprung.

Their newest film, "A Mighty Wind," brings the group somewhat back to their "Spinal Tap" roots (except, of course, for Levy) but, unfortunately, this newest offering suffers from poor direction, especially at film's end. "A Mighty Wind" returns Guest, McKean and Harry Shearer to the world of music they so famously and hilariously populated in "This is Spinal Tap." This time out, they aren't the loudest rock and roll band on Earth but are The Folksmen, a folk group from the late Sixties that enjoyed some amount of popularity because of their sole hit, "Old Joe's Place."

When we first meet them, they're getting together at the "Folksmen Reunion Barbeque." They enjoy banter about how old, bald and gray they all are, but that soon turns to talk about "Ode to Irving," a memorial concert being put together for the late Irving Steinbloom, the man who got The Folksmen, and many other folk acts, started in the music business. Some of the other groups, The New Main Street Singers and Mitch and Mickey, have also been tapped to perform at the memorial. The New Main Street Singers is a group of nine, or a neuftet, folk musicians who have been relegated to performing at amusement parks. Mitch and Mickey, played to perfection by Levy and Catherine O'Hara respectively, on the other hand, enjoyed more success than the other two groups during the folk explosion in the Sixties but fell apart because of Mitch's psychological problems. They are pegged to be the biggest draw for the concert but also the biggest headache because of Mitch's unstable psyche.

"A Mighty Wind" doc*ments these bands reuniting or coming out of obscurity to put on this concert and for the most part it works. There are shades of "Spinal Tap" in this film, especially in the early scenes with The Folksmen, when the band talks about their albums, "Wishin'" and "Pickin' among them, and how good they were but would have been better if their were holes in the albums so people could listen to them on their record players. This is a problem Tap would have had and it's a lot of fun listening to the band talk about having such problems. There is also a song that The Folksmen are seen rehearsing where Mark Shubb (Shearer) talks in his deep, bass voice while Jerry Palter (McKean) and Alan Barrows (Guest) play their instruments and the immediate image conjured up is that of "Stonehenge" from "This is Spinal Tap."

Unfortunately, The Folksmen never revisit this mystery song. The doc*mentary style of the film is handled quite well for the first half or so of the film. After that, though, "A Mighty Wind" stops being a mockumentary and reverts to being a typical comedy. There are shot-countershots and obviously constructed moments of anxiety and conflict. These issues are confronted most dramatically during the climactic memorial concert. When Mitch and Mickey are getting ready for their set, for example, the construction of the scene feels exactly that - constructed.

A good mockumentary needs to have a feeling of spontaneity to it, which this scene, and indeed the entire concert, doesn't have. This isn't the fault of the actors, though. Every actor in this film is spot on hilarious and pitch perfect. Guest, McKean and Shearer don't have as much to do in this film as one would like, but they make great use of their screen time. Fred Willard, as The New Main Street Singers' manager, and Ed Begley, Jr. as the head of the Public Broadcasting Network are more supporting actors in this film but they too make the best use of their time. Willard especially makes his mark as the eccentric manager, fledgling stand-up comedian and one-time TV actor on a show called "'Wha' Happened," canceled after three episodes because of a "total lack of interest." But it's Levy who gives the film's best performances. His Mickey is one that's a wreck, totally broken down and tragic. Levy conveys this sense of tragedy in Mickey's emotion and expression, but when he speaks the tragedy is obliterated by an equal amount of hilarity - the tone of Mickey's voice and the things he says are uproarious. Levy balances the two sides of Mickey with ease and shows once again why he's one of the best comedic actors working today.

"A Mighty Wind" finally suffers from a poor ending. The entire film is a doc*ment on how the "Ode to Irving" concert came together and almost fell apart. As such, the film should have ended with the end of the concert. However, there is a "6 Months Later" section of film attached that ends the film. In this segment, we see how the concert has changed the lives of the three bands that performed in it. It's all funny but is completely out of place. This very forced conclusion should have been left for the DVD releases deleted scenes. Those complaints aside, "A Mighty Wind" is as good a comedy as one can find in a multiplex thanks to the talents of writer-director-actor Guest, writer-actor Levy and the rest of the hilarious cast. And it doesn't hurt to see the boys of Spinal Tap back in action, even if it's as folk singers.