Even at 41, ‘Spinal Tap’ remains perfectly in tune
Unlike the rock band it celebrates, “This Is Spinal Tap” has aged incredibly well. In the 41 years since its release, it remains spry, relevant and deliciously cheeky. A film, if you will, that cranks it up to 11 on the amplified scale of comedic bliss.
Before viewing the newly restored cult classic for this weekend’s limited rerelease, I had not seen Rob Reiner’s groundbreaking masterpiece since its debut in 1984. So, it was very much like experiencing it for the first time. Sure, I was well aware of its impact on pop culture, introducing the terms “rockumentary” and “turn it up to 11.” Still, I was caught completely off guard by the plethora of cameos by the likes of Fran Drescher, Billy Crystal, Dana Carvey, Fred Willard and Anjelica Huston, all of whom had not yet achieved their iconic status in 1984.
All are sensational, perfectly in step with the film’s wonderfully deadpan tone set by its three leads, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer, who impeccably portray the surviving members of Spinal Tap, a washed-up British rock band delusionally seeking a comeback. Not only do they star in it, they also outlined the improve-heavy script with Reiner, AND wrote a batch of clever – and impossibly catchy – tunes culled from Spinal Tap’s catalog of “hits” stretching back 16 years to the British Invasion.
What’s amazing is how each song perfectly represents the evolution of rock music between 1964 and the early 1980s, a progression also reflected in the band’s ever-changing hairstyles and costumes. Well, that, and the uncanny ability of the three comedic actors to present us with characters as inept, yet endearing, as mob-topped vocalist David St. Hubbins (McKean), stoic lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel (Guest) and hirsute bassist Derek Smalls (Shearer).
You completely buy into the notion that they are a real band with a chequered history brimming with ups and downs, albeit with more downs than ups. Among those liabilities is a jinx that has befallen a succession of drummers, all of whom have met untimely deaths, most bizarrely, from choking on another person’s vomit to spontaneously combusting.
It’s astounding how the actors can remain straight-faced while recalling these tragedies under the probing of Reiner’s Marty DiBergi, the director of the “rockumentary” depicting the band’s return to the United States after a six-year hiatus. Very meta, and very funny. But I must point out the error of those who credit “This Is Spinal Tap” with being the “original” rockumentary. Nope, that distinction belongs to Eric Idle and Neil Innes, whose invention of The Rutles for the Beatles mockumentary, “All You Need Is Cash,” predated Spinal Tap by nearly a decade.
No matter. Both films are hilarious, as well as spot on in sending up the numerous clichés associated with the hundreds of rock bands who’ve achieved great success, only to fritter it all away under the double whammy of fame and inflated egos. It happened to The Beatles and it’s happening to Spinal Tap, as the rift between David and Nigel grows and grows. Their frayed friendship is the beating heart of the movie and don’t be surprised if you shed a tear at the very end when the two finally realize the error of their ways.
Achieving that level of emotion is what sets “This Is Spinal Tap” apart. You laugh at these nincompoops, but in the end, you find them utterly charming. It’s a template Guest would go on to build into a cottage industry through his trademark mockumentaries “Waiting for Guffman” and “Best In Show.” Neither of those gems would have existed without “This Is Spinal Tap,” the first movie that dared turn parody all the way up to 11.
Movie review
This Is Spinal Tap
Rated: R for language
Cast: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Fran Drescher, Rob Reiner and June Chadwick
Director: Rob Reiner
Writers: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Rob Reiner
Runtime: 82 minutes
Where: In theaters July 5-7 and on demand
Grade: A-
