100 Finest Films - This is Spinal Tap

This is Spinal Tap – 1984, Rob Reiner

“It’s such a fine line between stupid and clever.”
There are certain films that epitomise their genre so much, anything made like it in its wake seems derivative. ‘This is Spinal Tap’ is one of those movies, which for 25 years now has made every spoof documentary compete to reach its level. So far, none have surpassed it. It’s a classic, completely original and one of the funniest films ever made. It works best when the absurdity is at a level where it’s funny, but almost believable. Fortunately for us, almost the whole film fits into this mould, the songs, the malfunctioning equipment, the history, it’s all so close to real, but just too far. You could say it was cranked up to 11, taking what is already funny about rock music at the time, and just pushing it that one step further. The premise is very normal, the loudest band ever from the UK, touring the states, releasing their album, and going through what may be their last big dispute, but its just another factor that makes it a classic. A lot the film was adlibbed, so huge props have to go to the main cast, who’s interview segments are amazing. Christopher Guest has the best lines in the film, his timid performance as Nigel only makes his absurd beliefs funnier. The quirks of the characters are what makes them all so endearing. The film sometimes deviates from its strict docu-style, but you rarely notice, like a good documentary you’re more concerned with who’s on screen than who’s working the camera. The songs also make up a huge part of the film, the music is actually pretty rocking and the lyrics are quite subtle sometimes, but amazing. Inspired lyrics like “below the haunted moon” obviously influenced comedy rock ever since. They share a lot with one of my favourite bands, ‘Electric Six’, who share similar great music/absurd lyrics/rotational membership. In a nod to real music documentaries, we hear about the disputes over their original name (The originals), and we see the band progress through the sixties on semi-top of the pop’s style shows. It’s these typical touches that make the comedy all the more subtle (Such as the names of these shows, ‘Pop, Look and Listen’ for example) So much of the great comedy lines, moments and ideas have been stolen or done again on shows like ‘The Simpsons’, and when you watch the film and think about what came after it does destroy its purity, but the film should just be enjoyed in the spirit it was obviously made, fun over sense, rocking over thinking, comedy over criticism. In the end, this is not a film that can really be reviewed, it is what it is. Due to the nature of a film trying to look like a cheap documentary, so much can only be summed up as “It was good because it was convincingly bad.”, and aside from the humour and music there is nothing else that can be used as a hook. If you like original, hilarious, rocking movies, this is the best one.

Best moment: The band reminisces about their history, and describes the unfortunate history of their various drummers through the years.

"There's too much fucking perspective now."