"There's such a fine line between clever and stupid," and Tap finds it every time

Rating: 10/10 (1 May 1999)

"There's such a fine line between clever and stupid," says David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap's lead singer, and this movie finds it each and every time. Spinal Tap is the fake documentary of "The sights, the sounds, the smells of one of England's loudest bands." They also happen to be one of England's (or anywhere's) worst bands, and they are on a fast decent to nowhere while promoting their album "Smell the Glove."
One of the many, many delights of the film is in showing just how low the band goes (the lowest is being billed behind a puppet show at a local amusement park). But this film gives so much more than that descent. It truly has its pulse on the vast humor that stupidity can provide, and as it gives us a clueless and derivative rock band, the cleverness in how it brings us it's stupidity is never less than breathtaking.
The film is only 82 minutes, which is hard to believe, given how many jokes, both subtle and not so subtle, are thrown at us. It's like Airplane, except instead of giving us sight gags and groaners, it gives us biting sarcasm and brilliant insight into the worst that rock n' roll can provide. The amazing thing is that unlike Airplane, there isn't one miss in the bunch. Every joke in this film is at least funny, and many need a stronger adjective to express it's level of humor.
This film is in one way an attack on a Rock n' Roll industry that allows a band like Spinal Tap to hang around, inexplicably, for twenty years, but this film is in no way a great social commentary. It is a spoof. Well, actually, that's not really accurate. It is THE spoof. Every one before and after it will inevitably be compared to it, and ultimately, unfavorably.
This is Spinal Tap is now rightfully a comedy classic. I dare say that only "The Holy Grail" compares in being the most quoted movie of all time (at least among the Gen X set). It deserves its place. In my viewing of over 2,000 films in my life, I not only say without hesitation that it is the funniest film I have ever seen, I probably won't ever see a funnier one
If you have seen Spinal Tap once and strongly disagree, my advice is to see it again. It will allegedly be in theaters next year. Spinal Tap needs at least six viewings to fully appreciate all of its humor. The first time I saw it I was confused, the second I was amazed, and the third I was dying laughing.
Although there are at least fifty jokes that are truly hysterical, a few do stand out, especially Big Bottoms and "These go to eleven." But don't see it watching for just the biggies, because there is so much humor tucked slightly beneath the surface that you will miss most of it (chances are you will miss at least twenty jokes from laughing alone). But do yourself a favor and see the funniest movie ever captured on film, and find that fine line between clever and stupid, because if you do, you will never look at cucumbers the same way again.