A Mighty Wind (2003) (1 Viewer)

[Ben Osborne]

I believe that the movie is going into wide release this weekend.

I saw it last Saturday. I liked it, but I didn't think it was as funny as Best in Show or Guffman. The humor in most of Catherine O'Hara's and Eugene Levy's lines is so subtle and tough-in-cheek that it's hard to discern. Whenever Catherine O'Hara speaks, in particular, the audience is just searching and waiting for an opportunity to laugh, but she is so sincere and her character so human that it comes off as sad rather than funny. I'm all in favor of subtlety, but I think this movie has a little too much of it!

The Folksmen were hilarious though. I would like to have seen more of them. I'm sure they'll have more scenes on the DVD, which I still plan on getting.

 

[Steve_Knutzen]

I believe that the movie is going into wide release this weekend.

You are correct. The TV spot that I saw yesterday said "Playing now in slected cities, everywhere Friday." Hope this gives everyone that wants to the chance to see it.

 

[David Lawson]

I saw it last night, and I must agree with Ben. This is definitely one of the lesser efforts from Christopher Guest and crew, although the songs (as usual) are wonderful. Eugene Levy's character is forced and annoying, and both Christopher Guest and Parker Posey are given surprisingly little to say and do.

There are, as always, several howlingly funny moments, but the film as a whole suffers from a loss of balance, devoting far too much screen time to Mitch and Mickey, who (for the most part) are dead ends from a comedic standpoint. I'm almost thinking twice about purchasing the DVD.

Almost.

 

[Rob Lutter]

Saw this last night (finally!)

There were about 100 people in the theatre and I saw about 10 people walk-out. I guess they just couldn't handle it. While I found it to be Guest's weakest effort, it still managed to be the funniest movie I have seen for a loooooong time. Any fans of Guest's other films or Tappers should make this required viewing.

The only character I didn't really find all that funny was Eugene Levy's Mitch... it just didn't make me laugh (I think he might have been trying to hard ). The Folksmen and the NEW Main Street Players were hilarious though and some of the songs were gald-darn good.

The biggest laugh was when they revealed Harry Shearer's character has become a cross-dresser after the reunion AND the model train joke
. Oh, and did anyone else notice a predominantly older audience? (maybe it was just because I am in Fort Lauderdale ). My friend's 18-year-old girlfriend was the youngest person in the place

Overall :star: :star: :star: 1/2 out of :star: :star: :star: :star:

I can't wait for Guest's next film

 

[TheLongshot]

Funny, I though Eugene Levy's part was one of the best things about this film...

Jason

 

[Steve_Knutzen]

I think that Eugene's performance for a lot of people is a love it or hate it thing. At first I wasn't a fan of his fifteen second pause dialogue but after a few scenes I thought it was hilarious.

 

[Andy Sheets]

I liked Levy's performance, and I thought the movie had some hilarious parts, but I didn't like it as much as Best in Show (I still need to see Waiting for Guffman). I think the problem I had with it was that the movie didn't take as much advantage of the characters as it could have. People would show up and do one bit in front of the camera, and then you wouldn't see much out of them for the rest of the film, Parker Posey being probably the ultimate example. She had that one scene in the classroom and then blended into the background for the rest of the film. I just wanted more out of everyone.

 

[Craig S]

I saw it last night in a fairly packed theatre (and yes, Rob, it was definitely an older audience. I'm 45 and I was on the young side in there). For me, it worked better than "Best In Show", probably because I grew up with the music of The Kingston Trio (template for The Folksmen), The New Christy Minstrels (template for The New Main Street Singers), etc. - my Mom was a big fan of folk music, and she played it constantly. I still have a soft spot for this style, over-earnest as it often was, and own a number of CDs from these artists which I probably play too often... :b

I thought it was funny throughout. The Mitch & Mickey (based on Ian & Sylvia I believe, not Dylan & Baez) bits were the most problematic - I found them more poignant than funny, especially during the scene when they were performing "A Kiss At The End Of The Rainbow" and the rest of the musicians were gathered in the wings to see if the trademark kiss would happen. It felt like it belonged in a different movie.

The music is simply amazing. The gift for subtle musical parody shown by Guest, McKean & Shearer in Spinal Tap has not diminished in 20 years, and the contributions by the other actors (including John Michael Higgins' vocal arrangements for the New Main Street Singers) are just as accomplished. After the film, I popped into Best Buy and picked up the soundtrack, and it's 45 minutes of infectious fun. Highly recommended for fans of the movie. If one of these songs is not nominated for the Best Song Oscar next year there is no justice.

BTW, if you liked A Mighty Wind (or its predecessors) you'll want to catch the Charlie Rose show Monday night - the hour is devoted to a conversation with Christopher Guest.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

I laughed a lot during this movie--maybe less than the two previous Guest efforts--but I am still surprised at how poignant the big moment of the film between Mitch and Mickey was. Levy's act didn't really get me going from the laugh department, but his pairing with O'Hara is, if possible in this genre, sublime. I love the way Dargis described the movie in her LA Times review: merciless wit and tender mercy.

 

[Brian Kidd]

I felt that the Mitch and Mickey characters actually made the film more well-rounded than the previous two films. The jokes tended to be more subtle this time around, save for maybe the big joke toward the end concerning the Folksmen. Overall, a really decent film. The TAP boys are great in their short time on the screen. As always, Fred Willard steals the show. I find myself saying, "Wha happened?" and just giggling. Jennifer Coolidge was also excellent in her small role as the PR person. There wasn't a weak link in the cast, which leads me to my only complaint. Perhaps there were too many characters this time around. All of them were so funny that I felt like I was missing something by not seeing more of them. I think that speaks to the talents of the cast. Guest's stable of actors are some of the most gifted comedians in the business.

 

[Matt Stone]

I agree with Brian, that this film was more well rounded with the inclusion of the Mitch and Mickey characters. Regardless of how it compares to Guest's others, I haven't walked out of the theater with that big of a smile on my face in a long time.

 

[Craig S]

All of them were so funny that I felt like I was missing something by not seeing more of them. I think that speaks to the talents of the cast. Guest's stable of actors are some of the most gifted comedians in the business.

Agreed - hopefully we'll get lots of deleted scenes on the DVD!

 

[Damin J Toell]

Agreed - hopefully we'll get lots of deleted scenes on the DVD!

The trailer has a number of little moments that are missing from the final cut of the film. One of them is even in the TV spot that is in pretty heavy rotation: Fred Willard spitting up water onto Bob Balaban and saying, "Sorry, I must be full!"

Where's that scene?! Wha happened?!

DJ

 

[Matt Stone]

I heard Michael McKean on the Pat Sajak show on Fox News say that they shout 50 hours worth of stuff, so I'm sure they'll be plenty of deleted scenes.

 

[Ben Osborne]

Can someone tell me how the New Main Street Singers stole "Never Did No Wanderin'" from the Folksmen? I know the movie explains how it happened, but I missed it.

 

[Ben Seibert]

I missed some of the dialogue there as well, but got the impression that they just coincidentaly played the song because they nobody got together on what songs each group was playing.

 

[Matt Stone]

I got the same feeling as Ben.

 

[Phil Florian]

Great stuff. I love Christopher Guest's stuff and his ensemble, though getting a bit unweildly in size, is still a great crew. He is best when dealing with the performance arts, I think. This movie was stronger, to me, than Best in Show because I could identify a bit more with the characters (being interesting in music, performance, etc.) than I could with the dog show (yes, I like dogs, but the show aspect of it loses me). Guest has a great love and respect for his characters, even as he pokes serious fun. What I always love in all three of his movies is the techies. In each show, they are capable and hard working folk, not in on the joke that is the performers (which, if you have done theatre, isn't too far off). Put me in the love Mitch camp (and camp it was, sort of). This was a neat character for Levy, leaving behind his neurotic nebish routine that he perfected in the last two movies of Guest's. Mitch was over the top, to be sure, but I swear that some of the bits between he and O'Hara were genuinely touching, especially in the end. In fact, I didn't like that he completly reverted to the loon again and O'Hara's character singing the catheter ditty (funny, to be sure, but kind of out of character, to me). Still, a great effort. I am glad to see he still likes this format of filmmaking. I can't wait for his next (hopefully smaller) effort. Maybe a church choir? A barbershop quartet concert? Performance art? "Wha' happen?"


Phil

 

[Brad Porter]

I don't have much to say that hasn't already been said, but I've noticed one glaring (IMHO) omission in everyone's praise of the film - Ed Begley, Jr. It may have been a one-note joke, but his Swedish guy speaking Yiddish was hilarious.

Brad

 

[Randy Tennison]

I enjoyed it alot. And Eugene Levy made the film for me. I love good character based comedy, rather than "sight gag" based, and this movie was full of it.

Plus, the New Main Street Singer's were just hilarious. Not being able to take off the "costume" until you feel it.

And "I was known for, lets say, doing a certain thing that none of the other girls would do . . .". I was crying from laughing so hard.

And the Roy G. Biv mantra chant.

I could go on and on.