Hilarious- 11/11

Rating: 10/10 (22 August 2006)

I just saw "This is Spinal Tap" and I realized why this is a cult classic. You do not have to be in a band to enjoy this mock documentary (aka mockumentary), you just have to enjoy rock music and comedies. This film was the first of its kind, and it paved way for mockumentaries like "Best in Show." Since I enjoy rock music and comedies, I thought this was very hilarious. If you are older then the age of 25 and still have not seen "This is Spinal Tap" then I suggest you head to the nearest rental store and rent this because you do no know what you have been missing.
Marti DeBergi (Rob Reiner) is most famous for making dog food and other type of commercials. He then decides to take a break from commercials to film a documentary, or rockumentary, on the band, Spinal Tap (a band that was created for this movie). This resulting rockumentary follows Spinal Tap as they make a comeback tour in America, following the band around on their fateful tour. This is the kind of tour where everything happens, and a lot of things goes wrong....several gigs gets called off, problems with their stage-show, conflicts between the members of the band, and so on. This showed the good and bad days of Spinal Tap and their many drummers.
First off, because of this movie, a major part of life is now completed. With all of the pop culture references of today, I can now say that I understand where the jokes came from. From now on, when I listen to a radio station and I hear a "This is Spinal Tap" reference I will understand it. In fact, not only can I understand references but also I can make them myself.
This is Rob Reiner's film directorial debut and it is wonderful for a debut. With the combination of Rob Reiner directorial style and the writings of McKean, Guest, and Shearer, this is brilliant satire. Michael McKean as David St. Hubbins, Christopher Guest as Nigel Tufnel, and Harry Shearer as Derek Smalls were wonderful as members of Spinal Tap. They were so convincing it is hard to realize that Spinal Tap was not a real band. This movie had so many classic scenes/lines, which I will not spoil for you; it would be hard to dislike this. There are even memorable cameo appearances by Billy Crystal, Dana Carvey, Fran Drescher, and Fred Willard.
In conclusion, "This is Spinal Tap" is probably the funniest rock and roll comedies that I have seen. It is a shame this was not perceived well in theaters, but that is what makes this a cult. This certainly will receive repeat viewings from me and I do believe that I will not forget this movie in a long time.