A Mighty Wind
Cast
Christopher Guest as Alan Barrows
Eugene Levy as Mitch Cohen
Michael McKean as Jerry Palter
Directed by
Christopher Guest
Rater #2 has description and review.
Rater #1
Has Not Seen movie
Rater #2
9/10. The third in Christopher Guest's mockumentary series (Waiting for
Guffman, Best in Show), or fourth, if you count This Is Spinal Tap,
is A Mighty Wind. It's the funniest and the best out of the four.
A Mighty Wind basically revolves around three folk bands. The
Folksmen consist of Alan Barrows (Christopher Guest), Jerry Palter
(Michael McKean), and Mark Shubb (Harry Shearer), and they are laid
back and comfortable. Mitch and Mickey was a duet with Mitch Cohen
(Eugene Levy) and Mickey Crabbe (Catherine O'Hara), and Mitch was
just released from a mental hospital, but he may not be fully healed.
The New Main Street Singers are a cult-like group of nine or so. Some
members include Terry and Laurie Bohner (John Michael Higgins, Jane
Lynch) and Sissy Knox (Parker Posey). The son of Irving Steinbloom, a
concert promoter with a penchant for folk music, named Jonathan
Steinbloom (Bob Balaban), decides to have a reunion show for these
three bands to memorialize his recently deceased father.
Obviously, it has a lot of improv, but it was hilarious. The
Folksmen's first record didn't have a hole in center, making it "hard
to center, but you could poke a hole in it if you wanted." Many other
times had me laughing so hard that I almost fell on the floor. I
found that Fred Willard was the funniest ("Wha' happened?"), but I
also really liked the Folksmen and Mickey. Mitch didn't do anything
for me. He didn't make me laugh that much, and if I did, it was for
what else happened in the scene (like at the hotel).
Balaban probably has the most screen time (and a larger role than his
roles in other Guest movies). He was worrying over every little thing
(such as thorny plants may injure guests), and he was very funny.
Balaban proved that he could lead a movie. Guest, McKean, and Shearer
were quite funny, especially when Shearer, who doesn't talk much, got
in a little bit of improv. I liked the songs they sing, such as "Eat
at Joe's". O'Hara was very funny, and I like seeing her act. Levy was
good at acting, but he didn't make me laugh much. Everyone else was
funny.
Like all of the other Guest movies, there's a giant, climactic scene
(the musical in Waiting for Guffman, the dog show in Best In Show),
and this one is very good, at the reunion show. We hear a lot of the
songs, and they're very funny. I wonder if everyone did their own
singing. I would bet so. Something I like about Guest movies is that
there can be a lot packed into a little amount of time. 90 minutes
can hold lots of humor, character development, and more musical
numbers than most musicals. The time seems longer than usual, because
most of the movie is talking, but it is still fascinating. I would
like to see more people try the mockumentary genre; although none can
do it was well as the almighty Guest.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #5
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rated PG-13 for sex-related humor.
Running time: 91 minutes
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