Another Christopher Guest mockumentary, this time about folk music. The spiel is that a bigtime folk record producer, Irving Steinbloom, has died, so his family organize a reunion concert at New York Town Hall to be screened live on PBN. All the old folk acts get back together after years apart, including Mitch & Mickey, The Folksmen and The New Main Street Singers. There are, of course, some bizarre characters, such as Fred Willard's Mike LaFontaine and his cheesy failed TV catchphrase, "Wha' happened?"; Eugene Levy's psychiatric folk genius, Mitch Cohen; and Terry and Laurie Bohner, a couple into their own religion, WINC: Witches In Nature's Colors.
Not as funny as Guest's earlier films, Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman; but it features some great original folk songs, written and performed by the cast. Some of the lines work better on paper. Perhaps a second viewing would do it.
Nugget: Lars Olfen, a Swedish TV producer for PBN, in the meeting with Jonathan Steinbloom, the coordinator of the gig, An Ode to Irving: "The naches that I'm feeling right now... 'cause your dad was like mishpoche to me. When I heard I got these ticket to the Folksmen, I let out a geshreeyeh, and I'm running with my friend...running around like a vilde chaye, right into the theater, in the front row! So we've got the schpilkes, 'cause we're sittin' right there...and it's a mizvah, what your dad did, and I want to try to give that back to you. Okeinhoreh, I say, and God bless him."
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