“A Mighty Wind” Directed by Christopher
Guest
“A Mighty Wind” and no fart jokes? That’s right,
mockumentaries have to work harder than that to get laughs, but
seeing how few belly laughs there were in this blasé comedy, a
well-placed fart joke couldn’t have hurt. The film follows
three fictional folk groups, The Folksmen, Mitch and Mickey, and
The New Mainstreet Singers through a reunion honoring their
recently deceased promoter. A possibility for rekindled love
between Mitch (Eugene Levy) and Mickey (Catherine O’Hara)
creates a focus for the narrative, which otherwise bounces from
each group as they prepare for the show in New York. All of
Christopher Guest’s previous mockumentaries have exploited
existing fanaticism of ludicrous interests. Your crazy relative
whose voice raises four octaves when addressing any one of her
twelve dogs could have been a trainer in Guest’s “Best
in Show,” but it’s difficult to say the same about any
character in “A Mighty Wind.” With too obscure a niche,
the material hangs haphazardly in a dud that may signal a decline
in Guest’s mockumentary prowess. For those who haven’t
seen Guest’s work or its precursor, “This is Spinal
Tap,” a mockumentary is a comedy told through documentary
techniques, and all of the previous Guest efforts are veritable
laughfests. Interviews and raw handheld observational footage
chronicle an event in the lives of absolutely ridiculous characters
that have the utmost respect for whatever idiotic undertaking is at
hand. Obviously the wacky personae are the primary source of humor,
and “A Mighty Wind” seems to have plenty to offer.
Terry and Laurie Bohner (Jane Lynch and John Michael Higgins), the
leaders of The Folksmen, worship an omniscient power of color that
exists within an alternate dimension in Laurie’s mind. While
their preshow color chanting is quite amusing, most of the
characters aren’t as well-developed. Most jokes feel like
they were dropped in at random, with little concern for creating
solidly defined characters. This didn’t have to be a movie
about folk music ““ they could have placed these nuts just
about anywhere. That being said, with strong enough characters, the
movie could have been more thoroughly hilarious. There are moments
of brilliance, but the combination of a weak setting and shaky
characters leaves everything feeling thin. Guest should leave the
mighty winds to Thor and Rudra, and make sure that next time he
carefully selects the backdrop for his zany characters. -Michael
Ray
“Bulletproof Monk” Starring Chow Yun
Fat
Chow Yun-Fat (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”) and
Seann William Scott (Stifler from “American Pie”), star
in a kung fu meets kid-fool, shoot ’em up, bang ’em up,
action mumbo jumbo. This movie isn’t without merit, but
it’s bad. The Nazi plot of taking over the world with ancient
magical relics is older than the grail-guarding knight in
“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” but the writers
still went there. The movie, however, does offer an interesting
dichotomy in its portrayal of East Asian spiritualism meets
American street culture, played well by Chow and Scott. It provides
a few funny moments, riveting action scenes and cultural insights.
However, their efforts are for the most part squandered as the
movie continually focuses more on action and cinematography than
story. The potential was there, but it never really came together.
-Sean Halloran
“Better Luck Tomorrow”
This much-hyped movie benefits from its subject matter
(Asian-American bad boys) but fails to take it to the next level.
While some characters are flat, the climax and ending are also too
ambivalent to achieve the emotions and profundity attempted.
It’s an entertaining revision of Scorsese’s
“Goodfellas” within a high school, but first-time
director Justin Lin has potential to do much more.
“Stevie”
Steve James (“Hoop Dreams”) brings a harrowing account
of troubled boy Stevie Fielding who he once helped in a mentor
program. Now grown up and faced with a possible prison sentence,
Fielding’s self-destruction is sad and painful, not a
triumph-of-the-spirit affair. This film questions the boundaries
between objective and subjective filmmaking, which James comes to
terms with throughout the film. The painstaking honesty of James is
wonderfully depressing like picking a scab.
“The Good Thief”
Neil Jordan’s latest effort is not a disaster, but it’s
boring. This lame remake of Jean Pierre Melville’s film
“Bob le Flambeur” stars Nick Nolte, who effortlessly
plays a heroin-addicted gambler bent on scoring one last heist.
Young starlet Nutsa Kukhianidze stands out as a prostitute, and
Ralph Fiennes provides a nice cameo. But not Kukhianidze, Fiennes
nor Nolte can save the derivative script.