This Is Spinal Tap

Rating: Null/10 (12 November 2012)

In This Is Spinal Tap, Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer not only created one of the funniest films of all time, but they also assembled a fictional rock band with a believable back story spanning several decades and a collection of rock songs covering the full spectrum of heavy metal topics (sex, religion, mythology, self-aggrandizement) and styles (glam rock, arena rock, folk rock, hard rock) with such fidelity to the musical genre of the period, that if you ignored the tongue-in-cheek lyrics, you wouldn't know they were parodies. This Is Spinal Tap is spoof as well as satire; it mocks the "rockumentary" film which almost always takes its subject way more seriously than its import warrants, and it pokes loving fun at rock music, the rockers who spend their creative talents making it, and the fans who love it. The non-stop humor originates equally from scripted scenes and apparently ad-libbed bits, from situation and characterization, from dialogue and sight gags, and from back-stage shenanigans and musical performances. But perhaps the largest part of the ensuing hilarity stems from the various tactics that the aging band employs to overcome its main obstacle (its waning popularity). The fall from the top is long and demeaning, especially for a band as great as Spinal Tap. And while some men find Greatness, and others have Greatness thrust upon them, these guys grab Greatness by the armadillo in its trousers, and bash its head against an 18-inch replica of Stonehenge. "Do a good show, alright?"