A Mighty Wind

"We don't want people to reach for their remotes here."
"It's public television."
"They don't have remotes."

After the death of his father, folk music pioneer Irving, Jonathan Steinbloom (Balaban) organizes a concert with the three folk groups his father discovered: the Folksmen, the Main Street Singers (now the New Main Street Singers), and Mitch & Mickey.

The Folksmen are Jerry (McKean) the lead singer, Mark (Shearer) the bass (he plays the bass, and sings bass), and Alan (Guest) who plays the most instruments and sings the high notes. Their big hits are about a shoddy restaurant ("Eat at Joes") and going nowhere ("Never Did No Wanderin"). The New Main Street Singers are a reformation of Steinbloom's original neuftet (9 members). George Menschell (Paul Dooley), one of the original members, has found 8 others to join his group. They are led by Terry (Higgins) and Laurie (Lynch) Bohner who are color witches. The other female member, Sissy (Posey), is the daughter of an original member. The group is managed by Mike LaFontaine (Willard), a comedian who has been trying to relive his former glory (though no one remembers him). The group sings in harmony and play several different stringed instruments. They wear matching costumes and are a very happy group. Mitch (Levy) and Mickey (O'Hara) were the most popular Steinbloom group. They sang love songs and seemed to enjoy performing together, until their major fallout, and Mitch's nervous breakdown. They have not spoken in years and are the most anticipated reunion.

The concert will be televised by the local TV station... the groups reunite and try to remember their songs, with the concert looming only a few weeks away.


The usual repetorie of Guest actors return to laugh at folk music. Like previous Guest films, this is mockumentary where the characters talk directly to the camera and the actors improvise the dialogue. There are some great moments and many awkward revelations... Mitch and Mickey are the center of the story. While the other characters go for the laughs, M&M have an emotional arch, and are surprisingly touching.

As a fan of Spinal Tap, I love the combination of Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest as the Folksmen. The entire cast learned to play the instruments and seem to have blast singing on the stage. The end of the film is devoted to the concert, and takes a sentimental view of the characters. There are still laughs (some of the lyrics are hysterical), but the entire tone of the film changes. It works, but never lives up to Guest's other music film (he cowrote Spinal Tap).

A Mighty Wind (2003) 91 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for sex-related humor
Director: Christopher Guest
Starring: Eugene Levy as Mitch Cohen
Catherine O'Hara as Mickey Crabbe
Michael McKean as Jerry Palter
Harry Shearer as Mark Shubb
Christopher Guest as Alan Barrows
John Michael Higgins as Terry Bohner
Jane Lynch as Laurie Bohner
Parker Posey as Sissy Knox
Fred Willard as Mike LaFontaine
Bob Balaban as Jonathan Steinbloom
Don Lake as Elliott Steinbloom
Deborah Theaker as Naomi Steinbloom