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A Mighty Wind by Gregory Freitas Since you're reading this, you no doubt wonder: Is A Mighty Wind as good as Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy's other creations Waiting for Guffman or Best in Show? And my answer is I honestly don't know. I've seen Show five or so times and Guffman probably ten times that (the actual number is infinite as I have been known to leave the DVD on repeat for weeks at a time). So to judge Wind on the merits of a single viewing seems slight. But there is no question that it is seriously hilarious and heartfelt, and will be even more so after repeated viewings. Ostensibly organized around a tribute concert for the recently deceased folk producer Irving Steinbloom, Wind uses this device to reunite great folk groups of the past. The Folksmen, played by Guest, Harry Shearer and Michael McKean, epitomize that typically self-congratulatory folkie band of yore who wear their lack of commercial success as a badge of integrity. As three of their four collaborations together (including This is Spinal Tap) have revolved around music, one of their biggest strengths has been how musically astute they really are. To paraphrase the baseball maxim on 20 loss pitchers, you have to be pretty good to make music this bad. And in some cases the music is actually good (no really), proving once more the real empathy Guest and Levy have always shown for their characters. Best in Show went for the easy joke way too often, which is why I feel it's a lesser work than Guffman (which is admittedly like saying K2 is a lesser mountain than Everest). That's not a problem here, and in terms of creating human characters this might be Guest and Levy's best work. This is also certainly Levy's best acting work, his Mitch is as good as any character he's created, going back to funny man Bobby Bittman on SCTV in the mid-80's. Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard though, belong in a comedic Hall of Fame of their own. Their styles couldn't be more different. Willard is all bluster and riffs, connecting dead on with the audience while having a joke at his fellow cast members' expense. It's quite a talent. His Mike LaFontaine is such an annoying record producer that you wonder how he's made it, until you remember that as record producers go, he's probably quite normal. He's goes on an extended catch-phrase jag that is as ridiculous as it is hilarious. As I laughed I thought "this is the stupidest thing I've ever heard" until I started remembering "Where's the Beef?" and "And that's the truth" and I laughed even harder. O'Hara on the other hand, is the showbiz equivalent of the player who is at their best without the ball. She is actually funnier in between lines than she is saying her lines. I've never seen a performer who is more present in a scene even when she has nothing to say. One of those 50-odd trips through Guffman-land was devoted to just watching O'Hara in the scene and no one else. It's eerie and amazing. Someone get this woman an Oscar nomination. And more roles like this one. |
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