50 M E T R O
Cinema: Review
The Augusta Players presents
“Spinal Tap” Crew Is Back with “Mockumentary”
S P I R I T M A Y 8 2 0 0 3
By James Hebert
at the Imperial Theatre May 9 & 10
Based on a story and characters by: Damon Runyan Music & Lyrics by: Frank Loesser Book by: Jo Swerling & Abe Burrows
For tickets call 826-4707 or visit www.augustaplayers.com Produced by special arrangements with Music Theatre International
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Fine Dining meets Southern NEW SPRING DINNER MENU Starters
Savannah Rock Shrimp Chowder Pan Fried Chicken Livers, with Emmental Gougére, Caramelized Shallots and Aged Sherry Fried Green Tomato and Blue Moon Goat Cheese Napoleon with a Red Wine Jus
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Entrée
Grilled Atlantic Swordfish with a Low Country Shrimp and Grits Sautéed Georgia Mountain Trout with Fresh Corn Pones, and a Smoked Shrimp Butter Sauce Rare Grilled Tuna Steak over Key Lime and Ginger dressed Greens, and Blue Crab Fritters
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ou’d think the boys behind Spinal Tap would be leery of any project that even hinted at the word “spontaneous.” This is a band, after all, that once lost a drummer to an untimely episode of spontaneous combustion. Yet here they are again — the three real actor-musicians behind the fictionalized British rock group — working together to create another music-related “mockumentary.” And as before, it’s a work that relies almost entirely on improvisation. In the new movie, “A Mighty Wind,” Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer portray the Folksmen, a hasbeen ‘60s act that is asked to join a reunion of fellow folk holdovers for a tribute concert. In the spirit of “Spinal Tap” — a film that contained only a single line of scripted dialogue — think of “A Mighty Wind” as an act of spontaneous construction. The “script” for the picture, the principals explain, is really little more than an outline, describing the basic action but letting the actors take over from there. Guest, who directed “A Mighty Wind,” says he and co-writer Eugene Levy give the actors detailed descriptions of their characters, complete with life histories. Still, it’s up to the actors to turn that raw material into the quips and quirks and semilucid lunacy that made the previous films such serious fun. Some 80 hours of footage were distilled into the 90 minutes that make up “A Mighty Wind.” What elevates the performing in “A Mighty Wind” to a near-Olympian level of difficulty is that the cast actually plays the music heard during the performance sequences. There’s no lip-syncing, no faux-strumming, not so much as a hand double on tight shots of the tambourines. The musical aspect is nothing new for the “Tap” crew: Shearer, Guest and McKean played real instruments for that movie and
wrote the tunes with Reiner. The three even took Spinal Tap on the road two years ago. The Folksmen, who opened for Spinal Tap on that tour, have been a satellite of the “Tap” universe for years, but the acting trio was leery of turning the group loose on a movie. “We didn’t want to do another documentary that was like ‘Spinal Tap,’ where it was about the Folksmen now on tour. It was like, been there, done that, bought the T-shirt,” McKean says. The project only jelled when Guest and Levy dreamed up the idea of a reunion show for ‘60s folk favorites. “And then coincidentally, public broadcasting started doing real reunion shows of real folk artists,” Shearer notes. “So that sort of set up the gag for us.” In “A Mighty Wind” — whose title is positively redolent of the classic Tap album “Break Like the Wind” — the passing of a beloved folk manager inspires his son (Bob Balaban) to stage a memorial concert. The show, naturally, is televised by public TV. The Folksmen haven’t played together since their glory days, when they made such classics as “Blood on the Coal” — perhaps the ultimate folk song, about a train wreck in a coal mine. While the film has plenty of fun with the earnestness and well-meaning banality of traditional folk, Levy insists it’s not meant as satire. “Satire is cutting and sharp,” he says. “It holds something up in a way that is immediately laughable. This is not that. “I think this really is a character comedy that is set against the world of folk music, like all our films are set against whatever their world is — whether it’s small-town Blaine, Mo., in ‘Guffman,’ or a dog show (in ‘Best in Show’). “We’re not lampooning the people involved. I think we have too much affection for the subject matter to be true satirists.”