Not every movie can age well. The passage of time can ravage them, leaving them outdated relics from days gone by. This is especially true of comedies, as what was funny when they were released may not be funny in the future.
There are some, though, that can withstand the test of time. One of those movies is This is Spinal Tap, a movie that is as funny now as it was twenty-seven years ago. A "mockumentary" spoofing the excesses and eccentricities of '80s rock bands, This Is Spinal Tap just may be one of the most charming comedies I've ever seen.
The movie takes the form of a documentary being made by Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner) as he shadows his favorite heavy metal band, Spinal Tap, during their 1982 North American tour. Granted unprecedented access into the band's daily grind, DiBergi gets to know Spinal Tap's three primary members — lead singer David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), guitarist Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), and bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) — as they deal with the tour's surmounting difficulties.
This Is Spinal Tap is one of those comedies that's consistently funny all the way through. Not every joke is a "rolling in the aisles" gut-buster, but every scene has at least one or two things that will most definitely elicit a laugh. Though the movie satirizes rock stars from the early '80s, its satirical nature continues to be effective. I'm sure there are more than a few musicians out there who, like Spinal Tap, take themselves way too seriously despite being total kooks. There are actually more than a few rock stars who've said that the movie is actually a pretty close recreation of things that happened to them during their own tours. And maybe that's why This Is Spinal Tap continues to hold up after nearly thirty years.
The movie really doesn't have much in the way of story, but is instead mostly a series of vignettes documenting Spinal Tap's various misadventures. The band gets lost on the way to the stage before a concert. A copy of Stonehenge's megaliths built for one concert ends up being not 18 feet tall as intended, but 18 inches. A scheduled autograph signing goes awry when the only people that show up are Spinal Tap themselves. I could go on and on, so I'll just say what others have said: This Is Spinal Tap may be just a collection of moments and scenes, but these moments and scenes are all fantastic in their own ways.
And it's largely due to the cast. Everyone in the movie makes their own humorous contributions, but the funniest bits come from Spinal Tap themselves. Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer are hilarious, and since the movie's dialogue is predominantly ad-libbed, their characters come off as far more realistic and believable. I was also impressed by their musical ability; McKean, Guest, and Shearer actually performed the songs in the movie. The rock tunes are all really catchy; their sophomoric lyrics properly suiting the whole aspect of the musical style that the movie's parodying.
Comedy is a largely subjective genre. What some find funny, others might not. But This Is Spinal Tap has plenty here for everyone to get a laugh from. It's a wonderfully hilarious movie from start to finish. If you've never seen the movie, this review may not convince you to (and it's certainly not the best one I've ever written). But you'll be doing yourself a favor by checking it out at least once. It's well worth the watch, most definitely a movie worth cranking up to eleven.
Final Rating: ****
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