 |  | "This Is Spinal Tap" for Mormons and Non-Mormons Who Know Mormons |  |
If you're LDS and you "get" Rob Reiner's 1983 film "This Is Spinal Tap" (admittedly a small subset of the general populace), you'll absolutely love this movie; if not, well, your mileage may vary. It has the same sort of irony, clueless characters, and hilariously inane music--it even has a character named "N. Tufnel, Jr."--but minus all the f-bombs (unless, of course, you count "flip," "fetch," and "frick"). All three of the principal actors add something special to the film: Will Swenson is the best comic, playing the "Christopher Guest" role; Danny Tarasevich is the best singer and dancer; and Kirby Heybourne is the best pure actor, contributing his usual sympathetic, boy-next-door quality. The film manages to poke fun at just about every Mormon cliche and stereotype imaginable, but in a way that shouldn't leave non-Mormons mystified, and the music, well--it's brilliant and ultimately makes the film the entertaining piece that it is.
January 26, 2008| | | An LDS version of The Office... with a Weird Al twist | |
If you like the Office, BBC or NBC, and you have any knowledge of LDS culture, than you will enjoy this movie. The mocumentary follows the boys as they try and create a "boy band" in Provo, Utah while singing "hip" songs about different LDS idiosyncrasies. The song's include: Everclean, Word Of Wizzum, Love Me, But Don't Show Me, Diddly Wack Mack Mormon Daddy, Wait For Me, Spiritchal As Me, Sweet Spirit (a ballad), Nourish And Strengthen Our Bodies & Do Us The Good That We Need, Dang, Fetch, Oh, My Heck and Beautiful Inside. If you know something about LDS culture, just the song titles are enough to induce giggling. The titles do not do the lyrics and the performances justice. There were several fall out of your chair moments. If you have a funny bone, this movie is worth the investment.
December 24, 2007| | | Very different than I expected | |
Actually, I got this movie along with three others together on eBay. At first I thought it was a promo for an actual band so when I watched it I was very disappointed because I thought the band was so lame...well in reality that is what it was intended to be. But I think there is a great message here about pride, ego, control, submissiveness, being overly accepting of others, falling into trends that reinforce exploitation, and so on. Although it is a spoof on certain aspects of LDS life, it does nothing to demean the Church itself. I think instead it sends a message to those who take Utah Mormon life so seriously that they avoid their own identity and are fearful to be themselves--which goes for the members of the band. The only two persons who stand out who are themselves is the first manager who had it all wrong and built expertise out of mediocrity, and the second manager who had it all right but was too timid to express herself until the end, which worked out great.
Being a West Coast Mormon, it is a bit different than some hardcore Provo type where 97% or so of the community is LDS. That is not to say that I or they believe any differently, but it is to say that they take their lives often to be the center of the universe and get in return a very myopic view of life as it exists in the rest of the world, and in fact they often tend to reject it or put down those who exist outside of their community. That is simply how it is, and it is understandable. I think this movie attacks that, at times, insipid viewpoint but where it falls short is that it does not connect with others in the Church who actually are what they see as being missing in the Provo/Utah culture.
It took me maybe three times watching it before I felt I finally got what the movie is about and it is now one of my favorites. I like Kirby Heyborne and I think the roles he plays permits the other characters to blow it such that it illuminates misplaced emotions and notions of what is right and wrong in a social as well as personal context. The message in this movie is very clear, and that is if you conceptualize yourself in vague ways that identify with a blurry concept of self, others, organization or whatever you are going to move very slowly through life and you will be spending most of your time self-justifying. It shows that personal identity is clarified through the acceptance of others who may lessen your control but broaden your perception of others in ways that permit kindness and understanding to displace ego, bias, and ignorance.
July 29, 2007 | | 5 for the songs, 3 for the movie | |
The songs are remarkably good. We have the soundtrack and get as much, if not more, out of it than I did out of the movie. The songs are so amazingly funny once you are able to catch all of the lyrics. They move so fast that it is only after playing it a number of times that you catch all of the tongue-in-cheek and satirical jibes at mormon pop culture.
After realizing how good the songs actually are, I found a new understanding for what they were trying to do with the rest of the movie, which provided some extra humor in places that I didn't see it at first glance. Honestly, at first run I was only mildly amused by this movie, but I'm getting to like it better after listening to the soundtrack.
January 28, 2007I suppose I'm easily taken. I bought this movie because of the few good reviews on this page. Don't be as naive. I was ready to laugh and have fun watching this DVD, but what a disappointment. I just don't see much more in Will Swensen than a mere smart-alec. Oddly enough, the music is not bad (my wife liked it even better than the music of the group they are mocking). What is bad is the movie itself; it's just not funny. If you like good spoof or satire, don't waste your time with this one.
June 29, 2006More reviews at Amazon.com ...
Daily Birthdays
