This film goes to 11

Rating: 10/10 (5 June 2003)

This is Spinal Tap could be the perfect dry comedy. I love dry, satirical comedies and Tap fits the bill with it's perfect execution and believability. From the first 30 seconds of the movie, I knew it was going to be funny. "David St Hubbins: Lead Guitar.......Nigel Tufnel: Lead Guitar." Make no mistake: this film is not for everyone. The humor is dry and rather satirical, but there is an element of reality to this that you cannot deny. A British rock band with a mediocre fan following at best that inneptly makes its way through the world not knowing their downfalls and smiling stupidly as their entire world collapses around them. Perfect. The whole time you're watching this film you think to yourself, "do these guys hear what they are saying?! Do they really believe this?! Are they for real!?"
Christopher Guest selected the perfect actors for each of the roles and the chemistry (or perfect conflict among the band members) is sublime. Harry Schearer as bassist Derek Smalls has less screen time than I would have liked, but he plays the guy stuck in the middle between Guest (Nigel Tufnel) and McKean (David St. Hubbins) perfectly. The supporting cast is awesome. Rob Reiner, Billy Crystal, Fran Drescher, Angelica Houston, Bruno Kirby, Ed Begley Jr., Paul Shaffer of David Letterman fame and Fred Williard make up the bulk of the supporting cast. You don't assemble a cast like that, each with small roles in the film, without there being an incredible respect and admiration for the project and the man in charge: Christopher Guest.
The format of the film as a documentary is very believable. Camera shots really do seem like it's a documentary instead of a feature film. Rob Reiner as the director of the documentary is wonderful. His questioning of the band and their slow-to-respond remarks give you the feeling that this is all spontaneous and not scripted whatsoever. In fact, I've heard from several sources that the majority of the film is ad-libbed or at least the interaction between the band members is all "wingin' it." There's not much of a plotline, but it's supposed to be a documentary so it stays true to form. However, the roller-coaster ups and downs of the band produce some truly entertaining comedy. In a strange sort of way, you feel for the band members as you laugh at their exploits because you know they'll be the last ones to laugh at themselves.
If you have not seen Tap and are a fan of comedies or music, you owe it to yourself to check this one out. If you can get a copy of the DVD to watch, even better. The DVD has TONS of extra features including dozens of deleted scenes that unfortunately had to be cut; these scenes are just as good as the actual film. But, the best feature is the director commentary which places Guest, McKean and Shearer in character commenting on the film. My friend said it best: it's like a whole new movie! The dialogue can range from being directly related to the scene showing at the time to some tangent that lasts 5 minutes about something that has nothing to do with the scene, or even the movie, at all.
In short, you don't want this film to end. Spinal Tap is a masterpiece that cannot be recreated, even though Best in Show does a heck of a job trying. Christopher Guest really shows his love of film and music here and that feeling stays with you from the opening credits to the final scene. This is one of my all time favorite movies and I cannot say enough about how well thought out Spinal Tap was and what a wonderfully produced film Christoper Guest created.