A MIGHTY WIND (2003)
Directed by Christopher Guest
Starring: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Bob Balaban, John Michael Higgins, Jane Lynch, Parker Posey, Fred Willard
When legendary folk-music promoter Irving Steinbloom passes away, his son Jonothan (Balaban) organizes a concert featuring some of his father's most famous clients. First up would have been The Main Street Singers, but they broke up in 1975. But they were revived as The New Main Street Singers, fronted by Terry and Laurie Bohner (Higgins and Lynch). Also on the bill are The Folksmen (Guest, McKean and Shearer), but the ones holding out are the Sweethearts of Folk Music, Mitch and Mickey (Levy and O'Hara). Since their bitter breakup in the early 70's, Mitch was committed to a mental institution and Mickey married a catheter salesman. We've all got to move on, I suppose. But the two agree to reunite for the one-time-only concert, though there's a hard road ahead for them. Mitch could break down any minute. The Folksmen tend to bicker among themselves a bit too much. The New Main Street Singers are actually a religious cult that worships color, and are managed by a former child star (Willard) who never grew up.
This is yet another of Christopher Guests' "mockumentaries," and is a companion to Waiting for Guffman and Best In Show. I've never seen the other two, but I have seen This Is Spinal Tap (written by Guest, directed by Rob Reiner), so I was expecting something a bit more wacky that what I got. I've been into metal for a while, so Spinal Tap wasn't too hard for me to grasp. Then again, I'm not that big of a folk music fan, so maybe the satire was spot-on and it just flew over my head.
And that's the ironic part: I thought the music was the one of the highlights of the film. Again, my only point of reference was Spinal Tap, so I was looking for something along the lines of "Big Bottom" and "Break Like the Wind." But what we get is much more true to the nature of folk music, and it adds quite a bit of credibility to these fictitious (yet very real) characters. The Folksmen (actually the same members of Spinal Tap, believe it or not) have a great song called "Old Joe's Place" that has been stuck in my head for days. And now it'll be stuck in yours.
But my favorite part of the film was the Mitch and Mickey story. I guess I don't hate romance as much as I claim, because I'm a sucker for a good love story. Mitch is absolutely pitiable as he not only tries to remember the songs, but has to spend time rehearsing with the only woman he ever loved, who has since moved on. I won't spoil anything for those who haven't seen it, but when he and Mickey finally get on stage to play hit song (a beautiful tune called "Kiss At the End of the Rainbow"), there is a bit of an awkward moment that could have been played for laughs, but ends up being one of the most touching moments in the film.
But then again, this is a comedy, right? Yes, and it's the epilogue that is meant to provide most of the belly-laughs. But it's also the part of the film I liked the least. I suppose they meant to give the Mitch and Mickey thing some closure, but Mickey especially comes across as cold and uncaring, which just ruins the previous 88 minutes we spent attaching ourselves to them. They took something nice and tossed it out the window. Oh, and for no particular reason at all, The Folksmen go on tour and their bassist, Mark Shubb (Shearer) got a sex-change operation. Now, for a joke like that to work, there's got to be some kind of setup. And we get none. Just a great time, singing old-timey music and then...Harry Shearer in drag. It's a punchline without a joke, and it's just odd.
But all in all, the film was a lot of fun, and the music was better than I expected. I'm surprised this soundtrack didn't sell a gajillion copies like the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack did. It's all really catchy, but not as funny as some might expect.
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