A Mighty Wind (2003)

Mockumentary captures the reunion of 1960s folk trio the Folksmen as they prepare for a show at The Town Hall to memorialize a recently deceased concert promoter.

Director:

Christopher Guest

Writers:

Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy

Stars:

Jim Moret, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 13 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Moret	...	Newscaster
Stuart Luce	...	Irving Steinbloom
Mary Gross	...	Ma Klapper
Marty Belafsky	...	Ramblin' Sandy Pitnik (as Marty Belasky)
Michael Baser	...	Pa Klapper
Jared Nelson Smith	...	Young Chuck Wiseman
Ryan Raddatz	...	Bill Weyburn
Todd Lieberman	...	Fred Knox
Matthew Joy	...	Boy Klapper
Laura Harris	...	Girl Klapper
Brian Riley	...	Young George Menschell
Harry Shearer	...	Mark Shubb
Michael McKean	...	Jerry Palter
Christopher Guest	...	Alan Barrows
Eugene Levy	...	Mitch Cohen

Storyline

When folk icon Irving Steinbloom passed away, he left behind a legacy of music and a family of performers he has shepherded to folk stardom. To celebrate a life spent submerged in folk, Irving's loving son Jonathan has decided to put together a memorial concert featuring some of Steinbloom's best-loved musicians. There's Mitch and Mickey, who were the epitome of young love until their partnership was torn apart by heartbreak; classic troubadours The Folksmen, whose records were endlessly entertaining for anyone able to punch a hole in the center to play them; and The New Main Street Singers, the most meticulously color-coordinated neuftet ever to hit an amusement park. Now for one night only in New York City's Town Hall, these three groups will reunite and gather together to celebrate the music that almost made them famous.

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Plot Keywords:

concert | new york city | singer | amusement park | mockumentary | 

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Taglines:

Back together for the first time, again.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sex-related humor

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [us] Soundtrack website (U.S.)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 May 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Christopher Guest Project

Filming Locations:

Greystone Park & Mansion - 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£62,657 (UK) (16 January 2004)

Gross:

£62,657 (UK) (16 January 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In an early-'90s, and again in late 90's/ early 2000's, Spinal Tap tour, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest opened for themselves as The Folksmen and were booed during the first act, as people did not know or cared that the two bands had the same musicians.

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Goofs

In the final Reunion Scene, you can obviously tell that none of the actors are actually playing guitar. Most of them just move their fingers like strumming, and you can clearly see no vibration from the strings or contact with the fingers and strings.

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Quotes

Mark Shubb: We give the audience a choice. We say, you can enjoy 'a toothpaste commercial', or do you wanna hear folk music?
Jerry Palter: I think they'll have already brushed their teeth by that time; It's not even germane.
Alan Barrows: Well, here's the thing, you can't have on a bill, especially on a folk bill, you cannot have two people doing the same song. It doesn't work; they're just gonna be flat-out confused...

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the film, before the traditional scrolling credits, the screen is filled with all the main actors' names. One at a time, each star's name is highlighted, in alphabetical order. The scrolling credits are in order of appearance.

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Connections

Featured in The 76th Annual Academy Awards (2004)

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Soundtracks

"Potato's in the Paddy Wagon"
Written by Michael McKean and Annette O'Toole
Performed by The New Main Street Singers

User Reviews

Guest and Levy orchestrate a nice tribute to the 1960s folk groups.

We have a duo, a trio, and a group of 9. These three fictitious 'folk' groups from the 60s reunite for a concert in this mockumentary. What makes it so interesting is (1) I was a young adult in the 60s and vividly remember the folk group wave and (2) Guest, Levy and the others do their own singing and playing of songs they wrote for the movie. I think its IMDb ratings which cluster around 7 and 8 are about right. Not everyone will like 'A Mighty Wind' (song from final concert), it has improvised humor and many of the same actors from 'Best in Show'. But for fans of the humor of Guest and Levy it is a very nice little movie. The DVD has interesting extras, and the commentary track by Guest and Levy discuss how, for example, Levy had to take lessons to get is guitar skills back, and how O'Hara learned to play the autoharp for this role.

The movie is 92 minutes long, which includes the 7 minutes of end credits. Of the 85 minutes of actual movie, the first 60 sets up the characters and groups, shows them in rehearsals, covers several back stories, then the final 25 minutes are the concert itself, actually performed before a live audience. There were a few truly outstanding folk groups in the 1960s, but there also were a whole bunch of mediocre ones. The three groups featured in this movie are as good as many of the 1960s groups that actually made a living entertaining. And, as at least one critic said, that's part of the problem with 'A Mighty Wind' - the groups are good enough, and the final concert is real enough, that much of the impact of the humor went away during the last act. The lampooning was gone, replaced by a legitimate set of performances.

Still, I found it thoroughly enjoyable, and my favorite of the 'Guest/Levy' movies.