Rating PG
Directed by Christopher Guest

A Mighty Wind comes from the team that brought us ?Best In Show? and follows a similar style, that of a mock documentary (a mockumentary) with plenty of interviews from the main players in this tale. I must admit that I am about the only person I know that did not love ?Best in Show? so I was a bit skeptical of ?A Mighty Wind? as a result. What I witnessed was certainly not the best film of all time but definitely not the worst either. This is a film the entire family can sit in front of the television and enjoy (well maybe) as there is no crude language or offensive behaviour. That knowledge may turn off your teenagers instantly. Some laughs are guaranteed as well.

?A Mighty Wind?, Christopher Guest?s third film, basically tells the story of three famous folk bands from the sixties, The Folksmen, The Main Street Singers and the darling duo of their time, Mitch and Mickey. These groups are asked to perform one more concert in the Town Hall in NYC in memory of their promoter Irving Steinbloom who has just died. His son Jonathan (Bob Balaban) is in charge of organizing the concert in under two weeks. He has to convince the bands to perform in his father?s honour. This is particularly difficult when dealing with Mitch (Eugene Levy) who had a bad break up from Mickey (Catherine O?Hara) about thirty years ago and still hasn?t recovered from the ordeal.

The Main Street Singers are no longer but The New Main Street Singers are there to entertain in their own upbeat style and The Folksmen (Mickael McKean, Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest) happily reform for the occasion. Of course, every thing comes together for the concert, which is shown live on the Public Broadcasting Network with Lars Olfen (Ed Begley Jr) at the helm. There are hiccups, as one would expect. Mitch goes missing just before he is due to perform and everybody is waiting to see if Mitch and Mickey will finish their signature tune with the kiss they were famous for (A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow).

Throughout the film we get to learn a lot about the various performers after the success with the folk music scene has ended. Mitch has had his fair share of mental illnesses and Mickey has remarried a model train enthusiast and catheter salesman. One of The Folksmen wants to become a woman as well. Will they have to change the bands? name? All the characters are certainly quirky and you will certainly get a laugh as they retell their lives to the cameras. The songs they sing in the final concert are toe tapping and are making me contemplate buying the soundtrack on CD. The Folksmen?s ?Old Joe?s Place? was a particular favourite as was the title track. The New Main Street Singers songs are always upbeat and entertaining.

I loved the old record covers they produced during their prime (and not so prime in the case of Mitch Cohen) but unfortunately there were not enough laughs for my liking. My husband who was so eager to see this film was also disappointed. The movie is relatively short which is a bonus (under 90 minutes).

Overall, I feel the movie didn?t reach it?s full potential, I loved the whole idea of the film but I feel that they could have had a lot more fun with the characters who were an interesting lot, particularly ?The Bohners? from ?The New Main Street Singers?. Laurie Bohner, the wife, had a rather seedy past appearing in a film entitled ?Not so Tiny Tim?. I will leave it to your imagination to work out the genre of that film.
I probably won?t be rushing out to hire ?Waiting For Guffman?, Christopher Guest?s first film that is for sure. I know there will probably be many that will disagree with my assessment of this film but when a movie is hailed as a comedy, I expect at least one hysterical moment, one decent belly laugh, and that moment was sadly lacking in this film. Cute yes. Funny, well not really!

THE EXTRAS

There are a plethora of extras on this DVD. Aside from the obligatory scene selection option there is also:
? AUDIO COMMENTARY is available throughout the film by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy.
? ADDITIONAL SCENES ? Available with or without director?s commentary. There are 15 additional scenes to watch, twenty-two minutes worth in total. Most were probably taken out just to keep the movie to a reasonable length. Many of the scenes that were deleted are songs. Some scenes are quite entertaining, particularly ?Corn Wine?, ?The Good Book Song?, the ?Folksmen Interview? and ?When You?re Next to Me? ? the rehearsal and concert footage. I am not sure why the last song was deleted from the concert, all the other acts got to sing two numbers. Poor Mitch and Mickey!
? TV APPEARANCES ? There are four ?TV appearances? from our groups ? The Folksmen perform ?Children of the Sun? and ?Old Joe?s Place? and Mitch and Mickey perform ?A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow? and appear on a serial ?Dick Beyman- Private Eye? as a folk group , what a stretch for them. Very entertaining. The songs from the movie are played in full and the video clips are reminiscent of clips from the sixties.
? PBN TV BROADCAST OF THE CONCERT ? This is the concert in full, with the six songs that were performed in honour of Irving Steinbloom, they are: Never Did No Wanderin?, Potato?s in the Paddy Wagon, Old Joe?s Place, Barnyard Symphony, A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow and A Mighty Wind. An excellent special feature, particularly if you love the music from the film, which I did. A relatively short concert, only six songs and a scattering of jokes and audience participation. Twenty minutes long. I hope the audience didn?t pay too much for a ticket.
? THEATRICAL TRAILER ? fairly obvious was this feature is.
? SOUNDTRACK SPOT- a plug for the soundtrack. I think the soundtrack is well worth the investment.
? CAST & FILMMAKERS ? just a list of all the actors in the film and the filmmakers responsible for it.

Overall, probably the best special features I have seen on a DVD in a long time. All are worth taking a peek at.

CONCLUSION

?A Mighty Wind? is Christopher Guest?s third film and follows a similar formula to ?Best in Show?, an earlier film. It is basically a mockumentary about three folk groups formed in the 1960?s: The New Main Street Singers, The Folksmen and Mitch and Mickey, who are asked to perform a concert in their recently departed promoter?s honour, which will be showed live on the Public Broadcasting Network. The songs are certainly catchy and toe tapping. Most of the film consists of numerous interviews with the various band members and we learn a little about each of them. They are certainly a bunch of quirky characters, particularly Mitch Cohen (Eugene Levy). Levy actually co-wrote the film.

There are a plethora of extras to enjoy after the film. The DVD is worth purchasing for the extras alone if you love the music like I did. Both the picture and audio quality are excellent. Unfortunately I can?t say the same thing about the movie, which only had a scattering of funny scenes. However, it is still a pleasant way to spend 90 minutes, particularly if you are a fan of ?Best in Show?. Most of the main actors from that movie are in ?A Mighty Wind? (including Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, Catherine O?Hara and Jennifer Coolidge).