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Wednesday, April 16, 2003
'A Mighty Wind' is Guest at his best
Other directors make "mockumentaries" but none has been as consistent and comedically successful -- or as oddly profound -- as Christopher Guest.
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The former "Saturday Night Live" cast member inhabits his little microcosms of the universe with such a cross-culture of types and personalities that they wind up telling us volumes about life.
The idea for "A Mighty Wind" blossomed out of a 1984-85 season SNL skit featuring the music group The Folksmen. Guest and his Second City pal, Eugene Levy, wrote the film, the third in a trilogy that includes "Waiting for Guffman" and "Best in Show." It's more strangely and elementally touching than its predecessors.
Using the '60s folk music craze as the point of departure, Guest and his regular ensemble -- Levy, Michael McKean, Parker Posey, Catherine O'Hara, Fred Willard and Harry Shearer -- play former trendsetters from that scene.
Mitch and Mickey (Levy and O'Hara) are an Ian & Sylvia-esque duo who were once romantically linked but are now trying to sort out hostilities that stemmed from their long-ago split. The Folksmen (McKean, Guest and Shearer), a trio whose albums are all titled "Singin'," "Hitchin' " or "Ramblin'," sound like The Brothers Four mixed with Peter, Paul & Mary, uneasily rehearse their old songs amid conflicting points of view. The New Main Street Singers are a New Christy Minstrels-like group whose squeaky-clean public image hides some hilariously unsavory sexual secrets.
These three acts, who either have moved on or fallen upon tough times, are urged to reunite to pay homage to Irving Steinbloom, their one-time manager and folk icon who has died. His obsessive businessman son (Bob Balaban) brings them together again as a tribute to dad, much to his siblings' consternation.
Toss in promoters, managers, producers and a public television network that decides to broadcast the concert live, and any and all sorts of mayhem ensue.
Guest juggles the characters with great nuance, humor and gentleness. Though their stories range from silliness to the salacious (look for the scene-stealing Jennifer Coolidge as a dimwitted PR person), they engage us simply because they're so innately human.
In such extreme states, Guest finds a common ground of spirited affection and dignity in the people whose loopy foibles and frailties he comically exposes but never exploits.
Paula Nechak is a Seattle free-lance movie writer. She can be reached at nechak@hotmail.com.
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