Folk-music lampoon blowin' in 'A Mighty Wind'

By Jack Garner
Gannett News Service

A MIGHTY WIND (PG-13) Three Stars (Good) A surprisingly affectionate parody of the folk music craze of the early '60s, written by Christopher Guess and Eugene Levy in their mockumentary tradition and featuring their regular players, including Parker Posey and Catherine O'Hara. Warner Bros., 92 mins.

After their hilarious mockumentaries about heavy-metal rock, small-town pageants and dog shows, they took aim at the folk music craze of the '50s and '60s. But instead of firing off another hilarious salvo, Guest and Levy gave the new target a sweet kiss.

Oh, to be sure, "A Mighty Wind" offers very funny moments — but it's nowhere near as consistently hilarious as "This Is Spinal Tap," "Waiting for Guffman" or "Beat in Show."

If you're looking for unadulterated laughs, "A Mighty Wind" will disappoint. But if you're intrigued by the prospect of affection and bittersweet nostalgia along with the jokes, give it a shot.

You may find the film touching and, in the case of a least one emotionally unstable character, even a little unsettling.

With a script by Guest and Levy — and Guest directing — "A Mighty Wind' adheres to the filmmakers' pseudo-documentary formula. And, as in "Spinal Tap," the cast also writes and performs several songs that perfectly capture the era.

The cameras follow three beloved folk-music groups who reunite decades later for a special concert at Manhattan's Town Hall. They're to perform a tribute to their just-deceased legendary manager, Iving Steinbloom.

The Folksmen are a trio in the Brothers Four or Kingston Trio tradition, played by Spinal Tap veterans Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and a nearly unrecognizable Guest. They're happy to get back together — despite receding hairlines — to perform their hit, "Eat at Joe's."

The New Main Street Singers are a large ensemble of sweater-clad clones modeled on the New Christy Minstrels, and featuring only one surviving member (Paul Dooley) along with a second generation of clean-cut performers (including an earnest John Michael Higgins, an effervescent Jane Lynch and a bouncy, pig-tailed Parker Posey.)

And the stars of the show are to be Mitch and Mickey, a long-desired reunion of the sweethearts of folk music, a duo modeled after Ian and Sylvia (or perhaps Bob Dylan and Joan Baez), and brilliantly played by Levy and Catherine O'Hara.

Indeed, it's the on-the-mark work by Levy and O'Hara that gives "A Mighty Wind" its unexpected depth of feeling. Levy refuses to go for easy jokes, portraying Mitch as a sadly burned-out veteran of the '60s. He reluctantly agrees to the reunion despite living in a perpetual daze.

The question becomes: Can he get through it? The film's righteous ribbing is replaced — momentarily — with the unexpected tale of Mitch's redemption.

Mitch is easily the most unexpected and impressive portrayal in the comic actor's repertoire to date. And O'Hara matches Levy's poignant performance by neatly balancing the hilarious and the heartfelt in her own portrait.

But filmmakers' affection for Mitch and Mickey doesn't alway blend with some of the film's more traditional jokes and jibes. The dimwitted cracks by the usually riotous Fred Willard, for example, now seem more obviously contrived.

It's a trade-off Guest and company seem willing to make: A little less humor for a little more humanity.

Rated PG-13, with sexual innuendo.