A Mighty Wind

baiscally: Not as good as "Waiting for Guffman" or "Best in Show," but pretty damn funny. It's more akin in it's format to "This is Spinal Tap."

in depth: Unlike "Best in Show" and "Waiting for Guffman," very few people get their time to shine. In "A Mighty Wind," the story revolves mostly around Eugene Levy, Catharine O'Hara, and Bob Balaban. There really isn't any other character in the piece that is really extraordinary. It's still an ensemble piece at it's core, but it's more focused on a few individuals instead of letting other people shine. Maybe the other people had their time to shine and dropped the ball, it's hard to tell.

The laughter and comedic moments are sporadic. Much more sporadic than the previous two movies. In "BIS" and "WFG," I found myself either amazed or laughing at a pretty regular basis. Here, when something funny would happen, it'd catch me off guard. I didn't know when something would catch my funny bone.

I would have liked to have seen more characters developed. I would have liked to see more backstory on particular characters like Parker Posey or the Folksmen. But I really liked how much heart this movie had. There are parts in this movie that are almost excruciatingly painful to watch because of the heartbreak you are seeing on screen. It's a lot more 'real' for lack of a better word than the previous two movies. It isn't so much of a farce like the other two movies are. There is a lot more going on.

With that being said, this movie feels a bit too big for the mockumentary format. It's trying to do too much. It's trying to do things, and has to do things that aren't found in documentarys. Documentarys don't typically have the peripheral stuff that this movie has. When you see this movie, you'll understand.

There are some really funny, laugh out loud moments in this movie. You can't have this cast, with this much talent, doing what they're doing without something being funny. This cast is really really talented. Not only can they act and improvise on spot, but they all did their own singing and instrument playing.

The songs are awesome. The songwriters really caught the sound and feel of the entire folk scene in all of it's different manifestations. Overall, it's definitely worth your time. I may not have liked it as much as "WFG" or "BIS," but it definitely provided me with two hours of escapist fare that if nothing else, holds me over until "X-Men 2" or "The Matrix Reloaded" comes out.

Now, I need to go see "Malibu's Most Wanted." ;-)

matt out