Z At The Movies 10.22.02: This Is Spinal Tap

Posted by Jacob Ziegler on 10.22.2002

I hope everyone rented In the Company of Men. Come inside Jake’s Video Emporium to find this week’s rental recommendation.

Z At the Movies: This Is Spinal Tap

The brainchild of the four main stars, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Rob Reiner, Spinal Tap broke the conventional film mold and still stands as one of the funniest films of all-time. The stars all played their own instruments, and have two albums released, the soundtrack to this film, and 1992’s “Break Like the Wind.” The fact that these two albums were released leads some people to believe that Spinal Tap is a real band. That is not quite the case.

The film does not really have a beginning, middle or end. It does not show the early years of the band, nor does it show their eventual demise. This Is Spinal Tap simply shows a series of events in the life of the enigmatic band, all of them bursting with humor. The most amazing aspect of the film’s hilarity is that a majority of it was totally ad-libbed. The four main stars trusted themselves and each other enough, and realized it would add to the feel of authenticity if they just made up lines as they went along. Spinal Tap is just funny people doing what they do best: being funny.

Despite its short running time, Spinal Tap is able to crank out so many funny and memorable moments. Perhaps the best-known moment from the film is in the airport when Harry Shearer is not allowed to go through the metal detector because he has a zucchini wrapped in tin foil stuffed in his pants. The recollection of the band’s past drummers provides for more laughs. One of the drummers just spontaneously combusted while playing on stage! Of course, the main three band members (Guest, McKean and Shearer) think nothing of it, and their current drummer is not afraid due to the law of averages. “All of their drummers can’t die,” he rationales.

The supporting characters all do a great job as well. Tap’s manager, Ian, has to try and book events for the band, despite the fact that they are clearly not popular, and keep their morale up. In one of the other funniest moments of the film, Ian has to explain to the band why the studio does not approve of the cover to their new album “Smell The Glove.” Cameos from big stars like Billy Crystal and Anjelica Huston are a welcome surprise, and their scenes are absolutely hysterical, particularly Crystal’s, who plays a head mime-waiter at a restaurant.

This Is Spinal Tap’s true purpose is to showcase the immense talents of its four stars. Rob Reiner has not done anything this funny since, but he has made some very good films, such as The American President, but nothing can touch Tap. The other three stars have gone on to do some great movies, and even been regular Saturday Night Live cast members and/or guests. But nothing these men do will capture what they created for This Is Spinal Tap.

This Is Spinal Tap was recently redone and re-released, so it should be easy to find in the comedy section of your local video store. So do yourself a favor and “tap” into its resources.