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Mighty Wind Movie Review |
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A Mighty Wind will be gusting into
theatres on April 16th. And it is a mighty wind indeed.
The brainchild of Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy (who also
collaborated to bring us the very amusing Waiting for Guffman and Best
in Show), A Mighty Wind is a "documentary" about three folk
groups who reteam to perform a memorial concert for their recently
deceased mentor, Irving Steinbloom. The Folksmen (Christopher Guest,
Michael McKean, Harry Shearer - back together in music following their
benchmark performance in This is Spinal Tap) are a classic folk
threesome who enjoyed moderate success in the 1960's with their song
"Old Joe's Place"; their other albums did not enjoy the same
success due to the conspicuous absence of holes in the centers of the
records. The New Main Street Singers (featuring John Michael Higgins,
Jane Lynch, Parker Posey and Paul Dooley), the best little "neuftet"
in the music business, having been headlining on cruise ships and at
amusement parks and state fairs. And, of course, who could forget Mitch
and Mickey (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara), the most commercially
successful of the three groups, until they became involved in a nasty
divorce proceeding that ended with Mitch's admission to a mental
institution. The Folksmen and Mitch and Mickey have not played together
for thirty years. And all three groups have only two weeks to prepare a
suitable tribute to the man who brought them into the folk music scene.
A Mighty Wind is a great movie on so many levels. Guest and Levy have
assembled many of the members of the ensemble cast who amused us in
Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show. Guest and Levy developed a
character sketch for each role and mapped out scenes for the film, but
beyond that they permitted the actors to go forth and do what they do
best - improvisational comedy. What ensues is an extremely amusing and
sometimes satirical look behind the scenes of the folk music world.
The ensemble cast of this movie is fantastic. One can only imagine how
difficult it must be to harmonize the different personalities and
preferences of the members of an ensemble cast. An improvisational-style
script is risky, because it leaves open the possibility of showboating.
But it was obvious that this group works well together. No one
performance dominated - the film was punctuated with comfortable,
natural performances whose beautiful harmony was only surpassed by the
beautiful harmony of the music that the actors produced. It was a sight
to behold.
At the end of the day, I have to admit that what impressed me most about
this movie was the music. Now, I will be the first to admit that I enjoy
folk music - it's the kind of music that you can sing along to, even if
you're not Joni Mitchell. With that being said, I don't think that you
have to be a "folkie" to enjoy the music in this movie. It is
just great. It is even more amazing when you consider the fact that it
is the actors themselves who are singing - this is actually a great
trend in the "music" movies that we have seen of late (think
Moulin Rouge and Chicago) and I hope to see it continue. But what sets
this movie apart is the fact that the final concert was performed live.
And that made all of the difference in the world. I actually felt the
urge to stand up and applaud at the end of the movie. I loved it.
A Mighty Wind is a simple, and at times sentimental, movie. In a day and
age when many movies seem to be punctuated with violence and dominated
by special effects and computer graphics, this is a real movie with real
acting and real music. The improvisational comedy and live music work
well - it is unlikely that many groups other than this ensemble cast
could pull a project like this together. I thoroughly enjoyed A Mighty
Wind and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to spend a couple of
hours in the theatre being thoroughly entertained.
  
- 8.5/10
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Erin
Cullin - Senior Editor
More Reviews - Click Here
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