The latest mockumentary to emerge from the benignly warped mind of Christopher Guest embraces the popular world of folk music. When a legendary folk-music entrepreneur dies, his son decides to celebrate his life with a hastily assembled tribute concert.
The intervening decades, however, have not proved kind to the three acts he is after. The nine members of The New Main Street Singers are on the cruise-ship circuit; the three members of The Folksmen haven't played together for years; and Mitch and Mickey (the Sonny and Cher of folk) haven't spoken since their professional divorce and Mitch's subsequent committal.
There is a deep ambiguity to Guest's purpose here: either he is a closet folk aficionado or he is a very sick puppy indeed. Given the care and attention paid to the songs (and their performances), it is unclear whether we are witnessing sophisticated and good-natured pastiche, or subtle and sadistic parody.
The underlying sadness of many of the characters, especially Mitch (Eugene Levy), who comes across as the folk equivalent of Brian Wilson, acts as a counterweight to the levity brought to bear by characters such as Laurie Bohner (Jane Lynch), the former porn-star-turned-Main-Street-Singer.
The tone is closer to Woody Allen's faux documentary, Sweet and Lowdown, than Guest's previous films (This Is Spinal Tap and Best in Show), and has similar reserves of nostalgia for a bygone musical era. A very weird experience.
Lawyer-turned-novelist John Grisham is well aware of the popular opinion of his former profession, and plays to the groundlings in his exaggerated legal fictions. They are easily digestible meat for the Hollywood screenwriter and Runaway Jury is no better, no worse, than the other films of his books. It has a solid dependability that makes for safe entertainment.
A Mighty Wind
Cert: 12A
