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Mighty wind poster

The Mighty Wind.

A Mighty Wind is a 2003 mockumentary comedy.

Cast[]

  • Catherine O'Hara - Mickey Crabbe
  • Eugene Levy - Mitch Cohen
  • Harry Shearer - Mark Shubb
  • Christopher Guest - Alan Barrow
  • Michael McKean - Jerry Palter
  • Paul Dooley - George Menschell
  • Jane Lynch - Laurie Bohner
  • John Michael Higgins - Terry Bohner
  • Parker Posey - Sissy Knox

Plot[]

The film is a mockumentary about a memorial concert for fictional folk music producer Irving Steinbloom. Upon his death, his children organize a concert, which they hope to feature his three most famous acts: The Folksmen, The New Main Street Singers, and Mitch & Mickey.

The Folksmen trio — Mark Shubb, Alan Barrow, and Jerry Palter — were once the most popular of the acts but have not appeared together in decades. They had several minor hits, and their most famous song was "Old Joe's Place." Despite not playing or seeing each other for many years, their reunion (a cookout) is a very positive affair as the Folksmen give each other big hugs and are happy to see one another.

The New Main Street Singers are the second generation of the original Main Street Singers, formed by George Menschell, the only living member of the original group. Menschell sings and holds a guitar he cannot play. Performers include Terry Bohner and his wife Laurie Bohner. Laurie, a former adult film star, and her husband are founders of Witches in Nature's Colors (WINC), a coven of modern-day witches that worships the power of color. Another member is Sissy Knox, a former juvenile delinquent and daughter of one of the original Main Street Singers. They are managed by Mike LaFontaine, whose fifteen minutes of fame came by way of a failed 1970s sitcom, Wha' Happened?. The show lasted for less than one season and has largely been forgotten, but LaFontaine is constantly quoting the titular tagline to the puzzlement of others. The group, which is otherwise entirely white, includes one Filipino American member, Mike Maryama, and is known for their needlessly complex nine-part harmonies.

Mitch Cohen and Mickey Crabbe appeared as Mitch & Mickey, a former couple that released seven albums until their dramatic break-up years before the setting of the film. Mickey seemingly moved on and has married a medical supply salesman, but Mitch had an emotional breakdown and has never fully recovered. Their most famous song was "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow," at the end of which the pair would kiss on stage.

The three groups, which had sunk to various levels of musical irrelevance since their respective heyday, agree to the reunion performance, to be held at The Town Hall in New York and televised live on PBN (a reference to PBS). The film features rehearsals for the show along with interviews with the performers discussing their activities over the previous years and their feelings about performing again. The Folksmen are very enthusiastic, and work hard to relearn their songs, and hope to wow the audience. Mitch and Mickey (particularly Mitch) are very apprehensive about how it will go.

The show itself goes off with only two hitches: The song that The Folksmen intend to open their set with is played first by the New Main Street Singers (a song called "Never Did No Wanderin'", which the Folksmen sing in a rugged, emotional manner consistent with the spirit of the song, while the New Main Street Singers perform it in their usual peppy, upbeat way), and Mitch temporarily disappears minutes before he and Mickey are to perform. It turns out that Mitch had gone to buy a rose for Mickey, which she accepts with gratitude as they go on stage. Mitch and Mickey perform "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow", and after a suspenseful pause, they do the much-anticipated kiss at the end. In the finale, all three acts join together to sing "A Mighty Wind."

The film then jumps to interviews with many of the performers six months after the concert in which they detail subsequent events. Mickey is performing "The Sure-Flo Song" (about a medical device used for bladder control) at her husband's trade show booth. Mitch is writing poetry again, claiming to be in a "prolific phase." Mickey claims that Mitch overreacted to their onstage kiss, while Mitch insists that he no longer has feelings for Mickey, but had worried that Mickey's feelings for him might have returned. LaFontaine is trying to drum up interest for a sitcom starring the New Main Street Singers. He wants to call it "Supreme Folk" and have each play Supreme Court judges by day, folk singers sharing a house by night. The Folksmen have reunited, but Mark Shubb is now a transgender woman, though she continues to sing in her deep bass voice, followed now by a girlish giggle.

Musical numbers[]

  • "Old Joe's Place" - The Folksmen
  • "The Good Book Song" - The New Main Street Singers
  • "When You're Next To Me" - Mitch and Mickey
  • "A Kiss At The End Of The Rainbow" - Mitch and Mickey
  • "One More Time" - Mitch and Mickey
  • "Just That Kinda Day" - The New Main Street Singers
  • "Never Did No Wanderin'" - The Folksmen and The New Main Street Singers
  • "Main Street Rag" - The New Main Street Singers
  • "Skeletons Of Quinto" - The Folksmen
  • "Loco Man" - The Folksmen
  • "Fare Away" - The New Main Street Singers
  • "Irv's Blues" - Alan
  • "Potato's In The Paddy Wagon" - The New Main Street Singers
  • "Barnyard Symphony" - The Folksmen
  • "A Mighty Wind" - The Folksmen, Mitch & Mickey and The New Main Street Singers
  • "The Catheter Song" - Maurice
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