A Mighty Wind (PG-13, 2003)

A MIGHTY WIND is a "mockumentary" about a very diverse but earnest and enthusiastic group of people who share a passion that involves performing in front of an audience. "PBN" (a stand-in for PBS) is going to broadcast a special concert in memory of Irving Steinbloom, a man who was instrumental in the careers of 60's folk musicians. The groups who will participate are a trio called The Folksmen (Spinal Tap alums Christoper Guest, who also co-wrote and directed, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer), a once-married duo called Mitch and Mickey (co-screenwriter Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara) and the relentlessly perky Main Street Singers -- now called the New Main Street Singers because only one of the original group is still participating. This return to the spotlight after so many years creates all kinds of traumas and challenges.

Guest movies always get better on the second viewing, and this one may need three as its best moments are its subtlest, like the fabulously constructed songs that are just one tweak away from the music of the Hootnanny-era, where suburban kids sang folk songs written by slaves and hobos so they could feel more "authentic."

There are wonderfully choice moments. I loved the riffs by Fred Willard about his brief stint on a sit-com and Ed Begley, Jr.'s Yiddish-peppered discussion of putting the broadcast deal together. Steinbloom's son (Bob Balaban) is so obssessed with the details of the event that he literally can't see the forest for the trees -- he interrupts the live broadcast to warn the audience in the theater to be careful not to get scratched by the twigs in the floral arrangements. The reconstruction of the historical material is devilishly meticulous, well worth hitting the pause button when it comes to video and DVD.