Director: Rob Reiner
Screenplay: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner
Starring: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner, June Chadwick, Tony Hendra, Bruno Kirby
Running Time: 82 minutes
Genre: Comedy
Filmmaker Marty Di Bergi (Reiner) makes a documentary (or, if you will, "Rockumentary") following English heavy metal band Spinal Tap on their 1982 concert tour of the United States to promote their latest album "Smell the Glove". Comprising childhood friends David St. Hubbins (Mckean) and Nigel Tufnell (Guest) on vocals and guitar, bassist Derek Smalls (Shearer), keyboardist Viv Savage (David Kaff) and Mick Shrimpton (R. J. Parnell) the latest in a long line of ill-fated drummers, alongside manager Ian Faith (Hendra), the band find their tour beset by disasters on stage, cancelled tours, complaints about their album cover art and internal strife, which is intensified when David's New Age devotee girlfriend Jeanine (Chadwick) joins them.
This Is Spinal Tap must be one of the funniest films ever made, full of memorable lines ("This one goes up to eleven!"; "It's a very thin line between stupid and clever") and hilarious set pieces. It works because it really looks and sounds like a documentary, with the mumbled, criss-crossing dialogue and handheld camera. It's not the first "mockumentary" but it is one of the best examples. although the band is fictional, the music is very well done, and they do sound like a genuine band of the time, in fact outside the actors have played as Spinal Tap and released some albums, and since the film's release, several rock stars have claimed that it really is not far from reality. The film is cleverly made and well cast with several fun cameos, it's also consistently hilarious and definitely repays repeated vieweings.
No comments:
Post a Comment