This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

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 CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

This is a satirical mockumentary that follows a failing British rock band as they try to make a comeback by touring the United States. It's very well-written and well-acted. The main and supporting characters - and the interactions between them - are excellent.I don't know why the film wasn't very successful at cinemas. It became popular after being released on video and has gained a cult following.

Totally outrageous and funny in the way it looks like the band members are playing it straight but sound like complete morons. Michael McKean excels at this kind of stuff but the other players held up their end real well too. Derek's (Harry Shearer) discourse on the band's two visionaries, David (McKean) and Nigel (Christopher Guest) was flat out hilarious, and I had to pause the film a minute to give due admiration for the Intravenous de Milo bit. The Stonehenge gimmick with the eighteen inch prop was pretty ridiculous too. Besides sending up the rock music scene in general, I thought director Reiner paid an off hand tribute to all those variety shows of an earlier era like 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' and 'The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour', whose guest bands often performed with the flower power colors and psychedelic strobes and lava effects. I can't really say why I never checked out this film before, it's had a strong reputation and avid following for three decades now, but at least I'm a member of that club now. And say, who came up with this line - "You can't really dust for vomit". The writer deserves a free ticket to a Spinal Tap concert.

Even though it's considered as the best movies out there, I just don't think it would fit into that category. I don't understand why IMDb have this movie a 8/11 rating. It's nowhere near that first of all and second, you hardly understand what the hell is going on. Yeah I know they are being interviewed by a Marty DiBergi dude who randomly interviews them. However when they start talking without the music, they really talk too quick, moan and complain a lot. That's the reason why I just don't understand what they are saying.I did try to like this movie but it just wasn't for me. The music is OK, I wouldn't get too over excited! It's disappointing that I didn't like it but I would suggest this to music fans!