The life of
rock stars is very fascinating and often highly absurd. Rob Reiner’s This Is Spinal Tap (1984) captures that
absurdity perfectly by going through all the tropes of the rock’n’roll world
through the lens of a fake documentary. The band members are played by actors,
but their mannerisms and anecdotes sometimes feel pulled from real-life rock
legend. Plus, the movie popularized the expression “dial it up to 11”, which I
think we can all agree is one awesome expression.
It’s been a
while since I first saw This Is Spinal
Tap, but I remember laughing a lot while watching it with my brother. Ever
since I have noticed its influence in many facets of pop culture, such as how
the Defense against the Dark Arts teachers in the Harry Potter don’t last more than one year. Without it we also wouldn’t
have Andy Sandberg’s comedy Popstar:
Never Stop Never Stopping which does for pop music what Reiner’s film did
for rock and roll. Then of course we have the cast, a who’s who of comedy
legends when they were young: Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Fran Drescher,
Billy Crystal and Harry Shearer of The
Simpsons. The movie wasn’t a hit at first, but with a cast like that is it
any wonder it eventually developed a cult following?
Most of the
cast’s dialogue was improvised, which can go either way sometimes. It’s funny
when the guys from Who’s Line is it
Anyway do comedy improv, but with a movie there is always a chance the
director is working with actors who do better when they just learn their lines.
Fortunately, in this case it worked like a charm, with plenty of scenes where
Reiner interviews the actors in their rocker personas as they tell absurd stories
from their time on the road. One that sticks out is the story of one of their
previous drummers who died chocking on vomit. Somehow, there is uncertainty as
to whether or not that was his own vomit.
Then there
are times when things don’t work out for these touring rockers right in front
of the audience. Nigel Tufnel (Guest) has the idea to build a Stonehenge
megalith for an extravagant show. That’s not a completely ridiculous idea, but
due to labeling error with the dimensions the band ends up with playing next to
a small boulder instead of a giant stone. Not quite the effect they were going
for.
These kinds
of incidents are hilarious, yet they feel entirely plausible. The filmmakers and
the cast did their research and it shows. There must be bookshelves filled with
anecdotes about rock bands who have had to deal with infighting, controversial
album covers, commercial failures, artistic differences, a cult following in a
surprising part of the world, and a brave attempt at a career comeback. It’s
funny to see these tropes parodied, but also a little sad when you see the band
hit near rock bottom. During a particularly bad career slump, one venue has
them play after a puppet show. Ouch.
You don’t need
to be a fan of rock music or mockumentaries in order to appreciate the humour
of This Is Spinal Tap. Times and
music may have changed, but the sight of a band getting lost on their way to
the stage will be funny forever. It doesn’t hurt that the music isn’t bad
either, with songs like Tonight I’m Gonna
Rock You Tonight, Big Bottom, and of course, Sex Farm.
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