This is Spinal Tap - This is Not Real

This is Spinal Tap

Director: Rob Reiner

Heavy metal’s deep. You get stuff out of it. –a Fan

There’s something about this… this… they’re so black. It’s like how much more black could it be? And the answer is none… none more black. –Nigel Tufnel

David and Nigel, they're like poets, like Shelley and Byron. They're two distinct types of visionaries, it's like fire and ice, basically. I feel my role in the band is to be somewhere in the middle of that, kind of like lukewarm water. –Derek Smalls

I think the problem may have been that there was a Stonehenge monument on the stage that was in danger of being crushed by a dwarf. Alright? That tended to understate the hugeness of the object. –David St. Hubbins

Let me explain my process when I watch one of these 30@30 movies. I put in the DVD, open up a fresh Word document and immediately pull up the IMDb page (though I often don’t look at the page until I’m well into the movie). Then I watch. And as I watch, I frequently rewind sections to nail down a quote I like. (Yes I know I could probably look up all of the more interesting quotes in IMDb or in Wikiquotes, but I try not to.) And as the movie progresses, I make notes on my Word doc… thoughts, questions or observations that pop into my head for help in constructing the post. Usually about a quarter of the way through, I remember to read the Netflix description.

Here are the things I wrote before I read the description:

  - Wait, this is a documentary? I thought this was fiction…

  - These are the group’s fans? Something tells me I won’t like their music if it
     produces fans like these…

  -  I thought that was Rob Reiner…

  - That drummer looks a lot like Ed Begley, Jr.

And that’s when I stopped to read the Netflix description:

Rob Reiner's cult satire about a fictional heavy metal group named Spinal Tap spoofs nearly every facet of rock 'n' roll -- from vacuous modern songwriting and half-baked album promos to pyrotechnic concerts. Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer portray the washed-up, aging British rockers whose tresses and egos outstrip their talent, with Reiner appearing as the filmmaker who's chronicling the band's calamitous comeback tour.

Oh…

This is kind of a depressing movie for all its comedic affects, isn’t it? Rob Reiner’s “rockumentary” follows the band as it stages its comeback tour in America, and its downward spiral. As in many bands, both real and fictional (The Beatles and the Wonders come to mind), the downfall can be blamed on a woman. Or it could be said that the woman merely pointed out the differences that would have made the band split eventually anyway. I suppose that depends on the viewpoint… and the band… and the woman…

What it comes down to, though, is that this movie is about a friendship between two rockers, who’ve known each other since the age of 7. Nigel and David are portrayed as having a great personal and professional relationship until David’s girlfriend Jeanine arrives on scene to steal David’s attention and loyalty. Suddenly he begins supporting her inane ideas (zodiac-themed makeup?) and siding with her in arguments she has with Nigel.

It’s a tough spot to be in, really, when your best mate and your best girl don’t along. Instead of trying to even out the playing field by taking sides based on the legitimacy of the idea or the strength of the argument, David simply chooses the person sexing him up. This, of course, leads to the departure, at least momentarily, of Nigel. And it only takes time apart for David to see the error of his ways. As soon as Nigel returns, especially since he brings with him the news of the band’s album success in Japan, the boys are back to being friends and Jeanine is returned to her rightful place as observer instead of manager.

To be honest, I didn’t expect such a storybook “and they lived happily ever after” ending. That’s not to say I didn’t want the friends to reunite, the band to succeed or the girlfriend to be shut the f up. I wanted all those things. I just didn’t expect to get them. When the last scene before the credits shows them onstage playing to a large crowd in Japan with Ian Faith standing over a submissive Jeanine, it is a tad bit surreal.

As for the music… well, I was wrong. I do like some of the music the band plays in the movie. It’s catchy, even if the lyrics do tend toward the absurd. Then again, my favorite song is “Baby Got Back” so really, I mean who am I to judge?

My takeaway: When stuck between a friend and a significant other, it’s best to take all arguments into consideration before choosing sides, if a side absolutely has to be chosen in the first place. And 11 is one louder than 10.