The gold standard of the modern mockumentary

Rating: 9/10 (12 July 2017)

Arguably the father, and for sure the gold standard of the modern mockumentary, "This Is Spinal Tap" showed audiences how razor fine the line can be between truth and hilarious fiction. A satire of '70s rock 'n roll bands, the film is hysterical because of how closely it resembles a real rock band and mirrors many truths about the music industry.
With a script largely driven by improvisation from stars Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Rob Reiner (who also directs), "Spinal Tap" relies on this talent pool to create an entertaining product. The film consists of little more than interviews between Reiner's "director" Marty DiBergi and band members David St. Hubbins (McKean), Nigel Tufnel (Guest) and Derek Smalls (Shearer), footage from their American tour and some candid conversations. What makes the story interesting is not what happens, but the character dynamics/interpersonal drama.
Merely the scenario that Spinal Tap is a band in the twilight of its career, with its popularity at an all time low, creates enough opportunities for tension and movement in the story. With all of this comes creative differences, blame and flaring tempers. All these elements are true of rock bands enduring difficult times and that framework successfully guides the characters' quirkiness.
The music is also a big part of why the film works. The cast members are actual musicians with a great degree of talent, which creates authenticity, to the point that Spinal Tap could actually be a band. This is an entertaining and believable act, and what happens to them, though to the point of being amusing, also falls well within the realm of likelihood. The classic miscommunication about the Stonehenge stage prop is hysterical, but in this quiet, reasonable, almost graceful way.
Subtlety is really the hallmark of "This Is Spinal Tap" and its cast. Once a mockumentary film starts to lean too hard on hilarious scenarios, it starts to bleed over into the genre of situational comedy, and that's when you start to think less about the veracity of what you're watching as an audience and more about the writing. A great documentary never becomes so transparent that you can see its "script," and the same holds true of effective mockumentaries. "Spinal Tap" is genius because you can rarely see the comedy cogs at work — they emerge naturally from a talented cast that had a brilliant idea.
~Steven C
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