A Mighty Wind

A Mighty Wind (2003) is a musical mockumentary you can watch online on iFILM, written and directed by Christopher Guest. When a beloved folk music impresario dies, his son pulls together three acts the man helped put on the map for a one-night memorial concert at a New York venue. None of them have shared a stage in decades. Some of them would prefer to keep it that way.

The three groups arriving for rehearsal each carry their own particular wreckage: one is stuck in 1960s amber, still wearing matching cable-knit sweaters and holding their smiles at industry events; another has drifted into corporate territory; the third is barely a group at all, its lead singer having never quite recovered from a breakdown after the split. Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Michael McKean, Catherine O'Hara, Harry Shearer, and Fred Willard lead an ensemble that largely improvised the dialogue from a bare outline.

Guest made this after This Is Spinal Tap and Best in Show, and it shows the format at its loosest and most affectionate — less satirical bite, more genuine warmth toward people who dedicated their lives to something the world stopped caring about. Stream A Mighty Wind (2003) on iFILM.