Rating: 
Summary: This is a 'Must Buy'!
Review: "A Mighty Wind" appears to be one of those movies that never gets old. Reminiscent of Woody Allen before he got boring plus a night playing old Kingston Trio albums it is an introspective satire of the first water, taking the heartbreaking triviality of the 60's folk movement and making it ... funny. Bob Balabon as Jonathan Steinbloom develops the plotline playing the obsessive compulsive son of the folk music hero Irving Steinbloom. He just gets funnier as he pulls together the three diverse and unpredictable groups of musicians for one last tribute to his folk music hero father. He never quite makes sense but you find his dithering entirely believable and worthy of sympathetic laughter. The Folksmen played by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer are a perfect caricature of deadpan serious Midwestern folk musicians. They punctuate their musical practice with sincere, well developed dialog. It is only after you listen for many minutes you realize they are pulling your leg, indeed ripping it out by the roots and beating your funny bone to death with it. Their pacing may be a little slow for someone who wasn't raised on a Minnisota farm with endless hours to listen to their old Norwegian uncles, but oh, the punchlines! Mitch & Mickey played by Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara take adolscent love and amplify it, filtering it through her midlife neurosis and his psychosis until the viewer falls in love with both of them. I have a little bit of trouble with the New Main Street Singers; perhaps this is merely post traumatic distress from Osmond flashbacks. But just when they get to be too saccharine they say something which is completely off the wall and WHAM, you find yourself rolling on the floor laughing again! I can't recall when I have laughed so much at a Sunday matinee. The existential angst, with tiny twist after tiny twist of near psychotic unreality went over very well with me.
Rating: 
Summary: Warm, funny satire of the folk music scene
Review: "A Mighty Wind" is one of the warmest, funniest movies I have seen in a long time. Knowledge of the subject matter - the folk singing phenomenon of the 1960s - might help one to enjoy the movie more, but, overall, this isn't necessary because the humor is so broad-based and the characters so innately familiar. For fans of director Christopher Guest's earlier movies, "Best in Show" and "Waiting for Guffman", this one may prove a little disappointing. The satire is less insightful, and the humor has less of a bite. For me, "A Mighty Wind" makes up for these minor deficiencies through sheer exuberance. I found myself smiling and tapping my feet, despite the fact that I don't much like folk music. Like Guest's other films, this one is a mockumentary. After the death of a legendary music promoter, his middle-aged son decides to put on a musical tribute featuring his father's three most famous folk singing groups. Problem is, the groups are now in various states of disarray. Two long ago disbanded, the other one works at theme parks. Tracking them down, getting them to work together again, and, in one case, getting them to even speak to each other makes for an interesting, amusing journey. The concert itself, filmed at New York's Town Hall, is both hilarious and poignant - and more than a bit loony. The stellar cast of Guest regulars includes Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, Bob Balaban, John Michael Higgins and Parker Posey. The witty script was co-written by Guest and Levy. An element that really impressed me was the music. While it sounds like it comes from the folk music era, all of it is original, and most of it was written by [who else?] the multi-talented Mr. Guest. Some may call "A Mighty Wind" a pleasant diversion, but, if that's what it is, it's a mighty intelligent and entertaining one.
Rating: 
Summary: OK but not as funny as their earlier films
Review: "A Mighty Wind" is the latest "mockumentary" by writer/director Christopher Guest and his co-author Eugene Levy. Having explored the worlds of regional theatre and of competitive dog shows in "Waiting For Guffman" and "Best of Show," respectively, these two talented filmmakers have now seen fit to apply their unique brand of affectionate satire to the subject of folk music. As always, they have chosen to tell their tale using a film-within-a-film format, interspersing ersatz on-camera interviews amidst straightforward narrative passages - all centered on a reunion concert of some fictional folk singers from the 1960's and '70's. As a person who loved both "Waiting For Guffman" and "Best of Show," I must say that I was a bit disappointed by "A Mighty Wind." It isn't that there aren't some very funny moments in this film; it's just that there aren't nearly enough of them to bring the movie to the level of the earlier works. Apart from the fact that Guest and Levy seem to have reached the point of diminishing returns with their style - it may, indeed, be time for them to branch out a little and try something a bit different in the future - the writing in "A Mighty Wind" just doesn't feel as sharp or as well thought-out as it needs to be to make the concept work. The movie, as a whole, in fact, comes across as somewhat less fleshed out and fully developed than those previous films. As always, Guest and Levy - ever the clever, if benign, social critics - get perilously close to becoming condescending and superior in their attitude towards both the characters and the world they inhabit, but the large and gifted cast hits the right note in making the characters sympathetic and likable even when we find ourselves laughing "at" rather than "with" them. The only exception, ironically, is Levy himself, who overacts badly in the role of the depressed male member of a once-romantically connected singing duo. The filmmakers have done a seamless job in blending present day footage of the characters with cleverly faked photos and film clips of the performers in their younger days. Moreover, the music itself sounds terrific and goes a long way towards mitigating any feeling of disappointment that may arise from the uneven nature of the writing. "A Mighty Wind" isn't Guest and Levy at their best, but there are enough laughs and fine performances to make it worth seeing - and the music itself is worth the price of admission.
Rating:
Summary: Get the Guitars Out and Sing Along!
Review: "Hey....Wha Happon?" The immortal words of a spunky folk music producer. "A Mighty Wind" is filled with a dementedly humorous take on folk music. Here we meet the love-hate duo Mick (who is not playing with a full deck of cards) and Mickey (Mick's old sweetheart whose husband sells catheters). We also meet the lollypop sugary New Main Street Singers, with the ex-porn star lead singer who worships "color". Then there is the folk-trio with a sexually ambigious singer. They all prep for "An Ode to Irving", a reunion of sorts in honor of their dead producer. Be a part of music history. See the meyhem. This mock-u-mentory is ideal for a chuckle. Well worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Quirky, satiric - but sometimes too over-the-top
Review: "A Mighty Wind" is one of those films that I can't quite decide whether I like or not. It has some brilliant moments, but just as many that fall flat through over-acting or over-the-top details. Told in the framework of a documentary ("mockumentary"), the film follows the production of a folk group reunion concert as a tribute to the recently deceased promoter Irving Steinbloom. Steinbloom's nebbish son Jonathan (Bob Balaban) decides to reunite the groups his father represented. We are treated to the "famous" Mitch and Mickey duo (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara), the Folksmen (Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer), and The New Mainstreet Singers, a bunch of dimpled, wholesome, perky, downright sappy group that one character accuses of sounding like a toothpaste commercial. The concert is the highlight of the film as all the behind-the-scenes action gets subtly dramatized in the performances. (The cool-down phase of the epilogue is less successful.) The title song itself "A Mighty Wind" had me doubled over with laughter. Levy is sometimes too over-the-top with his portrayal of the neuron-challenged Mitch, but his chemistry with O'Hara elevates this film, particularly near the end, into something that goes deeper than gentle satire. Balaban starts off as an annoyance that you'd wish go away, but later he, too, provides some good laughs as he critiques the floral arrangements and the set design. Likewise, Fred Willard alternates between perfect mockery and irritating over-acting. Catherine O'Hara and Ed Begley, Jr. (as the PBN producer) are the only actors who hit the perfect pitch throughout. All in all, this is an entertaining, oddball film that sometimes goes too far. Not quite deserving of four stars, this film nonetheless hits that level at various points. I recommend this for viewers who are fans of Guest's work or who are tired of watching Hollywood gloss.
Rating:
Summary: One of Guest's Best
Review: 'A Mighty Wind' is one of the best comedies of the last twenty years, as are all of Christopher Guest's movies, starting with 'This is Spinal Tap'. 'A Mighty Wind' focuses on a reunion concert featuring three different acts and all the unforeseen troubles the show encounters along the way. The whole cast is great, and it is wonderful to see the Spinal Tap guys performing as 'The Folksmen', Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara are brilliant as 'Mitch and Mickey' (Levy's performance as an aging hippie should have won an Oscar), and the hilarious musical 'neuftet', 'The New Main Street Singers' were wonderful as the cheesy upbeat folk rip-off artists they are (and Fred Willard is especially brilliant as their manager.) The supporting cast is especially brilliant, with particular kudos to Bob Balaban whose obsession with legal culpability vis-a-vis the floral arrangements is priceless. The DVD has many extras including extra scenes, the entire concert as performed, a performance of the haunting 'Catheter Song' by Catherine O'Hara, and full length commentary by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy. This is not to be missed; each time I watch it, it just gets funnier. Kudos to the whole cast!
Rating: 
Summary: A pathetic breeze
Review: 'This is Spinal Tap' is one of my favourite comedies, so when I heard that the same team had created in 'A Mighty Wind' a comic exposee of the folk music scene, I rushed to hire the DVD. 'A Mighty Wind', is disappointingly unfunny, unrealistic, saccharine and boring. All of the characters are unbearably squeaky clean. There are no drug scenes, tantrums, overblown egos or any of the comedic effects that are part of the music scene in general, in all its aspects, from heavy metal to Christian rock.
Rating:
Summary: The Spinal Tap Gang Strike Again!
Review: A good poking of fun at the 60's folk revival sees Christopher Guest and company making a great laugher of a film in "Mighty Wind." Could this be another "Break Like the Wind," the title of Spinal Tap's comeback album?
Certainly a fair number of juvenile jokes with names like Bohner and Clapp, but the documentary style fit perfectly with the getting back together of semi-legendery groups the Folksmen, the New Main Street Singers (a rip on the New Christy Minstrels) and Mitch & Mickey (whomever they were supposed to be, I guess Sonny & Cher).
A lot of stellar performances from the core group that have also made "Best in Show" and "Waiting for Guffman" such howlers. Bob Balaban as the anal retentive son of the late folk promoter was fantastic, Parker Posey's goofball mandolinist, and Eugene Levy especially as the much-disturbed Mitch were among the best. But really they were all great.
Somehow it all came together well; the DVD has some excellent additions, including the Public TV performance of the live show, which is an interesting view, and the outtakes.
Rating:
Summary: Mighty Good Time
Review: A Mighty Wind is a histarically funny movie directed by the great Christopher Guest. A Mighty Wind is the usual Christopher Guest mockumentary, but this time he takes on the world of folk singers. This movie, unlike any Adam Sandler movie, is full or clever and witty comedy. The film's stars are fantastic also. I myself love to see Catherine O' Hara onscreen and Fred Willard is completely to die for. Catherine O' Hara and Eugene Levy are perfect and endlessly funny as the famous Mitch & Mickey. Christopher Guest(also acts in this movie), Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer are greatly comical as the Folksman. Heres how the story goes:
When the news is heard that Irving Steinbloom has died, many a people are saddened. He was the founding father of many past folk groups. To remember his father, Jonathan Steinbloom plans on holding a memorial concert featuring three folk bands that his father led to fame. His task is to get THE NEW MAIN STREET SINGERS, THE FOLKSMEN, and MITCH & MICKEY. The first two are easy to get and they set out to practice their gigs, but Jonathan has trouble wooing Mitch & Mickey to appear together. Mickey is married to a happy husband, and Mitch is "lost in space" due to the fact that he and Mickey would never be together as lifelong parteners. After much persuading, Jonathan gets Mitch & Mickey to reunite. As this is happening Christopher Guest cuts back and forth to show how each band was formed and they talk about past experiences and so on. It is really pretty neat how well he puts it together. The movie is really engrossing and moves at a great pace and keeps you wondering what will happen to our beloved new folk friends. This movie was EXTREMELY good, and as you can tell from my review, I absolutly loved it. Buy this movie
Rating:
Summary: Subtle Comedy at it's Best
Review: A Mighty Wind is a joy to watch. The use of the english language, long forgotten in Hollywood, is amazing. So many thoughtful and fun lines abound in this film that it can be viewed over and over and still seem fresh. The music isn't played for laughs, even if the situations are. Its easy to ignore the documentary aspects of this film because it does such a great job as a traditional narrative. The doc elements are like a Shakespearean aside, furthering the backstory and not telling the tale ahead. The bonus features show how detailed an artist Guest is, especially when you see the classic TV appearances these folk singers made. It lacks the counter-culture charm of Waiting for Guffman, but the cast, especially Harry Shearer, bring in a new flavor worth watching.
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