This is Christopher Guest's third mockumentary type of film and to be honest its his least funny. The story starts with a man named Jonathan Steinbloom (Bob Balaban) who is the son of a deceased music mogul and in his memory he wants to stage a folk music reunion with the bands New Main Street Singers, The Folksmen and Mitch and Mickey. The film does a good job of introducing all the characters and showing us the background of each one of them, some with flashback sequences. The film ultimately ends up with the big reunion live on television and the music really dominates the film. The music is entirely made for the film by various members of the cast and it is quite impressive to listen to. As I watched this film it dawned on me that all these actors are just so immensely talented with the singing and instrument playing, not to mention the character development that is needed. But the major flaw of the film comes with Eugene Levy as Mitch and Catherine O'Hara as Mickey. The story line with these characters becomes serious in tone and it seems out of place with the rest of the film. Mitch and Mickey split up years ago and now Mitch is a border line psychotic with real issues of self doubt. These two terrific performers show that they can handle serious roles but it should be in another film. Also, as good as the music is it seems to take over the film and your kept waiting for the humor to return. There is still plenty of laughs to recommend this funny film and as usual Fred Willard practically steals the picture. No where near as good as "Waiting For Guffman" or "Best in Show" but this is still a very entertaining film with enough laughs and charm to carry it.
Review of A Mighty Wind
