I'm 5-10 years too young to have really been "into" the folk scene in the late 50s and early 60s, so I probably missed a lot of subtle send-ups in the movie, but overall it was a remarkably honest (though sentimental) treatment of folk music. For the most part they played it straight, with the humor coming more from pathos than slapstick.
My greatest praise for this movie, and my strongest criticism, is that, like a good folk song, it leaves you somehow unsatisfied.
My greatest praise for this movie, and my strongest criticism, is that, like a good folk song, it leaves you somehow unsatisfied.