Review: 'A Mighty Wind' Powerful Comic Force

'A Mighty Wind' (PG-13) (out of four)

There's no better way of putting it: thanks to an original premise, high-spirited performances and an infectious feel-good atmosphere, the music mock-documentary "A Mighty Wind" blows away all of its recent competitors in the comedy arena.

It only makes sense. Not only is writer-director Christopher Guest one of the creative forces behind the docu-comedy classics "Waiting for Guffman" and "Best in Show," "A Mighty Wind" also reunites on screen the trio of arguably one of the funniest films ever -- the 1984 mock-rockumentary "This is Spinal Tap" -- and as a band of musicians, to boot.

But with "A Mighty Wind," Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer reunite in the form of the Folksmen, a folk group that made a small dent in the folk music scene of the 1960s. After the death of their promoter Irving Steinbloom, his son (Bob Balaban) calls upon his father's favorite acts for a reunion concert in New York City.

In addition to the Folksmen, the younger Steinbloom manages to snare the bitterly divorced duo Mitch & Mickey (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara) and the New Main Street Singers. Formerly the Main Street singers, the group is now a patchwork update of the original ensemble, whose members include Sissy Knox, the daughter (Parker Posey) of one of the group's founders, Terry Bohner, who was force-fed the group's original music growing up, and his quirky wife (Jane Lynch).

Like "Waiting for Guffman" and "Best in Show" Guest and co-writer Levy follow the same formula to move the film along, which consists of an introduction to the characters, the event that brings them together and an epilogue to find out where the characters are in the following months.

But unlike any other "formula" movies, Guest and Levy continually manage to come up with a set of new and interesting characters. Like before, the duo had written the outline of the plot for "A Mighty Wind," and then turned their comedy troupe loose to improvise the rest.

And while the loose format enabled the ensemble to turn in another set of insanely funny performances, perhaps what's most impressive about "A Mighty Wind" is its music. The groups performed their own vocals and performances (Guest, McKean and Shearer wrote most of the music, while Levy and O'Hara also contributed), and the result is an amazing set of tunes that sound like they came straight out of the folk era. It really is poetry in motion.

If actors playing the folk group members weren't already enough, nearly every member of Guest's comedy troupe from "Guffman" and "Show" (with the exception of the late Lewis Arquette) are back for "A Mighty Wind." Whether their appearances are major (Fred Willard is on fire as New Main Street Singer's idea-man manager) or minor (Larry Miller and Jennifer Coolidge are a scream as a public relations couple), they all deliver their clueless characters with an enormous amount of heart.

The detailed set-up for "A Mighty Wind" undoubtedly provides the film's funniest moments, as members of groups recall their roots. "Spinal Tap" aficionados will especially enjoy this stretch, as the preamble includes much of the same type of humor and music-related sight gags that made the heavy metal movie such of a blast.

Not surprisingly, it's the high standards that "Waiting For Guffman" and "Best in Show" set that hampers "A Mighty Wind." That's because the set-up for the major event of the film -- the reunion concert -- doesn't quite have the same payoff.

"Guffman" had the cast of Broadway wannabes waiting for word on their community theater show from a Broadway executive, while the "Best in Show" intensity came from the actual dog show competition. And while the concert scene in "A Mighty Wind" finds you hanging onto every note, it doesn't hold the same sense of anticipation its predecessors had.

Despite any shortcomings, Guest has solidified his position as one of the most talented filmmakers of his generation with "A Mighty Wind." Like his prior films, Guest once again proves that you don't have to go far to find the greatest laughs in life, because they're all alive and well right there in those quirky people known as us.

The belly laughs come easy and often, mainly because, like "Guffman" and "Show," we see ourselves in the film's characters. You don't have to be a wannabe actor, a dog show exhibitor or folk singer to enjoy Guest's films, just somebody willing to admit that its OK to be yourself, no matter how the rest of the world perceives how "odd" you are. If you're unwilling to admit your oddities, well, then you're missing out on a great joke.

--Note: "A Mighty Wind" opens in limited release April 16. Check the film's Web site for cities and showtimes