A Mighty Wind
A Mighty Wind
PG-13 | 16 April 2003 (USA)
A Mighty Wind Trailers

Three eclectic, never-quite-famous folk bands come together for the first time in decades following the death of their manager to put on an reunion concert in his honor, at the request of his son.

Reviews
Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place
ClassyWas Excellent, smart action film.
KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
grantss Folk music gets given the Spinal Tap treatment, and it's hilarious. Not surprising, as A Mighty Wind was written and directed by Christopher Guest, who along with Michael Mckean, Harry Shearer and Rob Reiner, gave us the mind-blowingly brilliant This is Spinal Tap.Great parody of folk music, though the movie is not at all malicious in its parodying. The music is actually quite charming, despite its inherent naivety and idealism. Great performances from a great cast: in addition to Guest, McKean and Shearer, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Bob Balaban, Jane Lynch, Parker Posey, Fred Willard and Ed Begley Jr. Stand-out performance goes to Eugene Levy - every expression and word of his is hilarious.
Sean Lamberger Christopher Guest and company tackle the super-cheesy folk music scene of the '60s in their own unmistakable way. While its status among Guest's other pictures could be debated, I don't think there's any question it's his most complete effort. Tremendously funny at points, it also tells a straight, coherent story and ties in a stunning successful emotional hook. The laughs aren't quite as loud or as rapid-fire as they were in Spinal Tap; however, the tone also isn't nearly as flippant, which is a major reason why it's able to settle down and deliver something truly sweet at the climax. Of course, the original music is once again outstanding, with lyrics that are more subtly funny and not nearly as brazen, and is spectacularly performed by the cast of ad-lib legends. It's an ensemble piece in every definition of the word, with the mockumentary style of the first sixty minutes providing more than enough background to emotionally invest its audience for the grand finale in Town Hall. Effectively funny and heartwarming in even doses, A Mighty Wind is a great continuation of the troupe's legacy.
Jackson Booth-Millard This Is Spinal Tap's Christopher Guest, director of Best in Show, directs and write, with help from Eugene Levy, this folk music "mockumentary", or satire comedy. Basically when folk icon Irving Steinbloom (Stuart Luce) dies, he left behind a legacy, and as a celebration his son Jonathan (Bob Balaban) has put on a memorial concert featuring many of his favourite musicians. These include duo Mitch Cohen (Levy) and Mickey Crabbe (Catherine O'Hara), trio The Folksmen, and The New Main Street Singers. The film shows some of these groups careers before the one night only in New York City's Town Hall. Also starring, in alphabetical order, Ed Begley Jr. as Lars Olfen, Jennifer Coolidge as Amber Cole, Paul Dooley as George Menschell, Guest as Alan Barrows, John Michael Higgins as Terry Bohner, Michael Hitchcock as Lawrence E. Turpin, Don Lake as Elliott Steinbloom, Jane Lynch as Laurie Bohner, Spinal Tap's Michael McKean as Jerry Palter, The Nutty Professor's Larry Miller as Wally Fenton, Christopher Moynihan as Sean Halloran, Parker Posey as Sissy Knox, Spinal Tap's Harry Shearer as Mark Shubb, Deborah Theaker as Naomi Steinbloom and Fred Willard as Mike LaFontaine. This may not be as much fun as This Is Spinal Tap, but you can certainly enjoy the music, especially from Levy and O'Hara, and there are one or two amusing moments. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Song for "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow". Good!
djdekok I was working the children's stage at Musikfest in Bethlehem PA a few years ago, and the local folk music society was getting ready to go. They seemed a self-important, pompous group. I kiddingly asked them if they'd seen "A Mighty Wind" and got looks of stony silence from every single performer in the group. That's all I needed to know. Their instrumentals were ragged, they didn't sing that well, Why am I telling you this? For the simple reason that "A Mighty Wind" spoofs these goofuses perfectly, poetically, practically every way they can be. As in "This is Spinal Tap" and (the even funnier IMHO)"Best in Show", they capture the quirks of the offbeat characters who take themselves and their avocation a little TOO seriously.