Unwigged & Unplugged (2009)

Tonight They're Gonna Rock Ya

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Unwigged & Unplugged on DVD

This great-looking, great-sounding concert video captures Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer as themselves, acoustically performing all the songs they wrote for the movies This Is Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind and the album Break Like the Wind. Admittedly, the unplugged heavy metal doesn't quite mix with the folk music, especially since I'm a fan of the former movie, but not so much the latter movie. But the performers intersperse the songs with lots of banter, making it all their own. (Some of the banter is obviously written, but the on-the-fly stuff is a lot funnier; it seems as if Shearer is the biggest cut-up of the three.) There are a few quick movie and video clips, and McKean's wife, the gorgeous actress Annette O'Toole, comes out for a couple of songs. (She and McKean co-wrote the Oscar-nominated song "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow.") Some of the best moments feature the "older" songs from the flower-power era of Spinal Tap, such as "(Listen to the) Flower People." The biggest drawback is that the video is very long, running over two hours.

With: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Annette O'Toole, Judith Owen, Jeffrey C.J. Vanston
Written by: n/a
Directed by: Jim Gabour
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 130 minutes
Date: September 2, 2009