may contain spoilers

Rating: Null/10 (15 May 2003)

Rob Reiner's This is Spinal Tap is one huge joke. And, of course, I mean this in the nicest way possible. It is a Rockumentary portrait of a fictional band so caught up in themselves they cannot see their own demise. While being an absolutely hilarious satire, there's another deeper level of complexity to it. The films absolutely assumes that it's viewers will understand all it's jokes, and understand that it is in fact, a fake rock n roll documentary. It is a film within a film. The director/narrator of the internal film is the director of actual film, Rob Reiner, bringing a whole other level of reality to it. This is what makes the film so humorous, its reality. I was hardly born when the film was released, but from what I've read, there was some serious confusion and gossip as to the reality of the film, which is the big joke (this reminds me of the hype that came with the release of the Blair Witch Project in select cities. When I first saw it there was still the rumor that it was all true, making the film horrifying). It is so funny because all of the things the fictitious band, Spinal Tap, was doing on their tour, had (or could have) actually happened to actual band around this time period. We laugh when we hear the ridiculous lyrics, the over-the-top stunts, and the excessive musical equipment (double bass and amp that goes to 11) because we've seen it before, and this film isn't afraid to make that punch below the belt.