4/27/2003
A Mighty Wind stars Christopher Guest as Alan Barrows, Eugene Levy as Mitch Cohen, Michael McKean as Jerry Palter, Bob Balaban as Jonathan Steinbloom, Michael Baser as Pa Klapper, Ed Begley Jr. as Lars Olfen, Marty Belafsky as Ramblin' Sandy Pitnik, David Blasucci as Tony Pollono, Jennifer Coolidge as Amber Cole, Mary Gross as Ma Klapper, Laura Harris as Miss Klapper, John Michael Higgins as Terry Bohner, Michael Hitchcock as Lawrence F. Turpin, Matthew Joy as Boy Klapper, Todd Lieberman as Fred Knox, Stuart Luce as Irving Steinbloom, Jane Lynch as Laurie Bohner, Larry Miller as Wally Fenton, Jim Moret as Newscaster, Christopher Moynihan as Sean Halloran, Catherine O'Hara as Mickey Devlin Crabbe, Jim Piddock as Leonard Crabbe, Parker Posey as Sissy Knox, Ryan Raddatz as Bill Weyburn, Harry Shearer as Mark Shubb, Freda Foh Shen as Melinda Barrows, Jared Nelson Smith as Young Chuck Wiseman, Deborah Theaker as Naiomi Steinbloom, Fred Willard as Mike LaFontaine.
A Mighty Wind is billed as a mockumentary. It is the latest installment of Christopher Guest's, improv-films. It is filled with great acting and characters. The way Christopher Guest has chosen to make his films is to allow the actors to improvise the dialog of their characters. This makes for interesting movies where character development is superior to other films.
A Mighty Wind is about the reunion of Folksmen, a top folk music group of the '60's. The reunion is to honor the now deceased promoter, Irving Steinbloom. The culmination of the film is the concert of other folk artists, like Mitch & Mickey, and some retread old groups with the word New interjected into their name. The music is new and original and not a bad facsimile of what took place in the '60's. The characters are good but not great. The depth is not there.
A Mighty Wind has something missing or perhaps my expectations were to high or my entire impression of the folk music era was crushed or all of the above. Since, A Mighty Wind is similar to This is Spinal Tap a comparison is inevitable. It falls mighty short of that film. Stay for all the credits or you will miss the surprise ending. I am being generous with my rating as I enjoy Christopher Guest's films, See This is Spinal Tap and Best in Show as a better example of his work.
I give it 3 out of 5 kisses: 