Mustache Marathon 2: This is Spinal Tap (1984)

I have no idea what I can say about This is Spinal Tap that hasn’t been said a million times over already.  This is one great comedic force.  There is no getting around that.  When a comedy gets it right, it rarely gets it this right.

This is Spinal Tap is a fictional documentary about a made up band called Spinal Tap.  It chronicles their latest tour and the problems that the band faces during the tour.  Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest, and Michael McKean star as the titular band.  There’s music, there’s laughs, and there’s just an all around great time.

The three lead actors are perfect in their roles.  They bring the depth and shallowness that each character requires.  They go all out to portray these characters in ways that few comedic actors would have been capable of.  I can’t see anyone else playing the roles better.  That’s the way it should be.  All movies should star people who aren’t afraid to put everything into the role.  This allows the viewer to better immerse themselves into the movie and experience it in a much better way than when an actor is only there to fill the space of the role.  The actor should be the role on screen.  This is Spinal Tap has every single actor being the character, rather than playing the character.  That is a great accomplishment.

Another great accomplishment of This is Spinal Tap comes in the form of the music.  A movie about a band would be nothing without the music.  Each song is memorable, whether it is Gimme Some Money, Big Bottom, or Stonehenge.  The songs aren’t simply outlandish and funny, they’re good songs.  They are well written, well performed, and well placed into the story of the film.  The mixture of the comedy and the quality of the songs are something that brings this movie up to eleven, as opposed to the standard ten.

An added bonus when watching This is Spinal Tap is the emotional depth that is added to the movie.  While it directly references a certain famous band, this added layer invests the viewer in the characters more than the movie would if it were only following the band from city to city.  This underlying material builds the movie into something better than it could have been.  It strengthens the story.  (How many times have I said the word story in this?  Can I say story some more?  Story story story.)  With characters as outlandish as those in This is Spinal Tap, some emotion is needed in order to ground things.

I guess you could say that I love This is Spinal Tap.  That seems fairly clear from the way I’ve written about it.  I won’t lie.  I do love it.  It’s a great movie and I love it.  I have nothing else to say.

This brings the second annual Mustache Marathon to a close.  It’s been a hoot.  I can’t believe I typed that.  All of these movies, each involving at least one great mustache, brought me a lot of viewing throughout the month.  I’ve enjoyed some of the movies.  I didn’t enjoy others.  You’ll find out which were which when I get to the awards.  And that’s all I have to say about that.