Movie Review It Runs in the Family

It Runs in the Family (2003) 

Directed by Fred Schepisi

Written by Jesse Wigutow 

Starring Michael Douglas, Kirk Douglas, Cameron Douglas, Rory Culkin, Bernadette Peters

Release Date April 25th, 2003

Published April 25th, 2003 

Kirk and Michael Douglas have been searching for years for a project to do together. So what made them choose this film? According to the younger Douglas, the combination of his father's stroke and the tragedy of September 11th made them both realize time is short. Unfortunately, that may have rushed them a little too much in the reading of the script for It Runs In The Family. They saw a workable father-son dynamic, what they missed was the story that surrounded them, a collection of hackney one scenes that wouldn't make it on the worst of sitcoms.

Michael Douglas is Alex Gromberg, an unsatisfied, unhappy corporate lawyer who lives in the shadow of his father Mitchell (Kirk Douglas), the founder of the law firm. As intimated by his co-workers, Alex only remains with the firm to satisfy his father. Unfortunately that doesn't seem possible. As the Gromberg family including Alex's wife Rebecca (Bernadette Peters). His youngest son Eli (Rory Culkin), his mother (Diana Douglas) as well as his no-good oldest son Asher (Cameron Douglas) assemble for Passover; they prepare for yet another family sparring match between father and son over just about everything.

Alex has trouble piling up all around him. At work he has taken on a pro bono case against one of the firm’s own clients. At his volunteer job at a soup kitchen there’s a young woman who can't keep her hands off of him. And of course at home his wife is suspicious of his fidelity and his sons won't talk to him.

That is the setup, abridged by this reviewer to make it coherent. For the plot description it was necessary for me to cut to the chase because the film itself is a series of stops and starts. Annoyingly episodic takes that go absolutely nowhere. So disconnected are some scenes that they could have been reedited into the film in any order.

It's easy to see where this film went wrong, it was bad from its conception. It Runs In the Family is a vanity project and as most vanity projects it plays as everyone knows it's no good but hey, let's finish it anyway. It's nice that Michael and Kirk Douglas got to work together finally and that they could incorporate Michael's son Cameron and Michael's mom. Working with Kirk's ex wife Diana Douglas must have been a real treat for the family but it's not much for the audience.

Director Fred Schepisi is competent and confident in his direction but the film’s script by Jesse Wigutow short circuits anything Schepisi might have accomplished. I doubt it was Wigutow's fault entirely as the script seems unfinished and with this being a vanity project it was probably changed significantly to fit the cast.

It was very nice to see Michael and Kirk Douglas on screen together and it's nice to see how lively Kirk still is at his advanced age. This film is not the coda his career deserves, though this is not necessarily his last film, but there are moments when his class and dignity raises the level of the film. There aren’t many of those moments, but they are nice nevertheless.

Movie Review Identity

Identity (2003) 

Directed by James Mangold 

Written by Michael Cooney

Starring John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, Alfred Molina, Clea Duvall 

Release Date April 25th, 2003 

Published April 24th, 2003 

I have harped on this issue many times in many reviews, and though I know many readers have tired of my constant ranting on the subject. Nevertheless, I must once again complain about a movie’s ad campaign. While many felt the trailer for Identity is one of the best of the year thus far, and I don't disagree necessarily, I must complain about how much of the mystery it gives away.

Now the most observant of viewers will not solve the film’s mystery from the trailer. However, once you’re sitting in the theater and applying what you learned from the film’s marketing campaign, it doesn't take long for the mystery to fall apart. That said, thanks to the clever script and another stellar performance by John Cusack, Identity neatly transcends its predictability.

So we have a dark and stormy night, a lonely motel with a creepy clerk (John Hawkes), and a group of strangers with something in common. The setup is familiar, and the various homages are sprinkled throughout. Cusack plays Ed, a former cop turned limo driver for a diva ex star (Rebecca De Mornay). As Ed is driving the star to LA through Nevada, he accidentally hits a woman (Leila Kenzle) as she waits for her husband (John C. McGinley) to change a flat tire. The injury is life threatening, and the woman needs immediate medical attention. 

Unfortunately, the roads were washed out by the storm. Ed takes everyone to a roadside motel where they are joined by a cop (Ray Liotta) who is transferring a prisoner (Jake Busey). Also on hand is a prostitute (Amanda Peet), giving up her profession to go to Florida and start over and a young married couple (William Lee Scott and Clea Duvall) to round out the group. As soon as everyone is assembled, people start dying.

In parallel to this story is a court hearing for a convicted murderer (Pruitt Taylor Vince) whose psychiatrist (Alfred Molina) attempts to convince an obstinate judge that his patient is too insane to execute. The two stories don't dovetail early on, but if you are observant it won't take long to figure out the connection.

I'm not going to give anything away because I don't have to, the trailer does enough. Thankfully, Michael Cooney's script is so crafty and interesting that it saves the film from itself. He takes elements of Agatha Christie, Hitchcock and classic horror and mixes it with subtle nods to Freud and even Sartre. Along those lines, an early scene of a book in Cusack's limo is a wonderful inside joke you won't get until after the movie is over.

Cusack is the most effective of the doomed cast, none of whom seems the most likely to survive. Amanda Peet turns in another effective performance that takes advantage of her sexy presence and innate ability to earn audience sympathy. Ray Liotta, another of my favorite actors, seems dialed down a little from his intense performance in Narc and that is likely because his character is the most underwritten of the group.

If only the trailer hadn't given so much away, Identity could have been a really fun shocker that would have people talking for weeks after seeing it. Unfortunately, the film overplayed its hand and its biggest surprise was ruined for me before the second act. As it is, it's a cleverly written and well-directed Saturday night rental. But oh, what might have been.

Movie Review The Good Thief

The Good Thief (2003)

Directed by Neil Jordan 

Written by Neil Jordan 

Starring Nick Nolte, Ralph Fiennes

Release Date April 25th, 2003

Published November 11th, 2003 

You've seen heist movies. Heck, you've seen movies called The Heist. The genre is one of Hollywood's time honored sources of roguishly handsome con men and intricate storytelling. You know that old saying about how familiarity breeds contempt? Well a number of heist movies have bred a number of cliches and repetitious stories that have become shorthand for hack screenwriters. In this era, it takes a lot more than an intricately planned con to make an entertaining heist movie. The modern heist movie needs a little extra something to set itself apart from the genre pack.

In The Good Thief, that something is Nick Nolte in a career best performance. In The Good Thief, Nolte is Bob, a pathetic junkie gambler in some nameless French slum. Despite his weary, decrepit appearance, his reputation as a legendary thief persists in the mind of an obsessive French cop named Roger (Tcheky Karyo). After Bob saves Roger's life in a bar fight, the two share a drink and Roger senses something is up with the aging thief and begins tailing him.

Indeed Bob does have something going on, his drug addiction and gambling have emptied his bank account. A friend, Raoul (Gerard Darmon), has a line on a big score to get Bob back on his feet. In the meantime, Bob decides to help a young Russian girl who had come to France and was going to work as a prostitute until Bob saved her. The girl, Anne (Nutsa Kukhianidze), is 17 and obviously attracted to Bob who needs all his will power not to take advantage. Bob also has to overcome his drug addiction in order to pull off the big score.

The heist is no more clever than most heists in similar films. It involves an overly complicated security system and the theft of some classic works of art from Picasso, Degas and others. There are typical scenes of gathering a crew, narrowly avoiding the cops while manipulating them into the right position to work around them. And let us not forget the girl, who like every other girl in the heist movie, complicates things.

Director Neil Jordan gives all of this the polish of professionalism and a real love of French landscape, architecture and an extra special appreciation of the French slums, which he paints with the right mix of menace and “Frenchness.”

The Good Thief is a remake of the Jean Paul Melville film Bob Le Flambeur, the title is referenced in August Le Breton's updated screenplay as one of Nolte's many aliases. It's the type of subtle nudging humor that edges in throughout the film. Having never seen Melville's original, I can't compare the two. However, Le Breton seems to have a good sense of how to update the script, to modernize it without losing what made them want to remake The Good Thief in the first place.

As good as Jordan's direction and Le Breton's script update, The Good Thief belongs to star Nick Nolte. Put aside the tabloid trash that has dominated his recent press clippings and take a close look at Nolte the actor. His weary eyes and weathered face tell us more about the character than pages of dialogue ever could. That classic Nolte growl is tempered and toned to the dialogue that rolls out like a hand of cards. Nolte's Bob is constantly telling stories about his parents, his exploits and his career. His favorite is a story about meeting Pablo Picasso at a bullfight, I could listen to him tell it for hours.

Combining Nolte's awesome performance with some terrific source material and Jordan's steady directorial hand, you get one of the rare heist flicks that skates over its atypical genre and becomes a fascinating exercise in acting and dialogue.

Nolte deserves award consideration for this role. Whether it's eligible for this coming Oscar ceremony is in question, it debuted last year at the Toronto International Film Festival but didn't make its American debut until April of this year. Eligible or not, your chance to pay homage to his performance is now on DVD.

Movie Review Confidence

Confidence (2003) 

Directed by James Foley 

Written by Doug Jung 

Starring Edward Burns, Rachel Weisz, Andy Garcia, Paul Giamatti, Donal Logue, Dustin Hoffman 

Release Date April 25th, 2003

Published April 25th, 2003 

It's all been done.

That is the problem with modern Hollywood filmmaking, the perception that there is nothing new that can be done. That every story is a familiar concoction of similar films. It's a product of Hollywood's adherence to genre and demographic marketing that certain elements are put into films where they don't belong in order to appeal to mass audiences. Take for example the con man movie Confidence starring Edward Burns, a familiar story of cons and con men that doesn't simply lack originality but feels so familiar that it becomes predictable.

Burns stars as Jake Vig, if that ain't the name of a movie con man, I've never heard one. Jake and his crew including Gordo (Paul Giamatti) and Miles (Brian Van Holt), specialize in petty scams involving thousands of dollars and moving quickly from place to place. However, the crew's latest con has found them sticking around longer than they are used to, and playing with larger sums of money than before. Not only is the con bigger than usual so is the man being conned, though they don't realize it at first.

In possession of 100 grand after scamming some small time bag man, Jake and his crew find that the money is that of a sadistic mobster known as the King (Dustin Hoffman). Rather than being upset with Jake, the King is impressed with his skills. Nevertheless, he wants his money back. So Jake hatches a new con, a fleece on one of the King's rivals that will not only get the King's money back but net everyone around five million bucks.

Jake and his crew can't pull this con off alone so Jake recruits a skillful pickpocket named Lily (Rachel Weisz). Lilly’s part is to seduce a low level VP in a stock scandal that includes Swiss banks, the Cayman islands and various other familiar con movie locales. The mark is a mob lawyer and money launderer played by Robert Forster, and the dupe VP is well played by “Drew Carey” vet John Carroll Lynch.

The film is told in flashback in a noir tribute to the thirties con man movies. It begins with Burns on the ground and in voiceover explaining he is dead. The device is effective and set's the film in motion but the noir feel doesn't hold up long. After the opening moments the film takes on a more modern look and feel and abandons noir all together.

Edward Burns in recent interviews has stated that he was far more committed to acting in Confidence. He broke his old pattern of working on one film while writing another, which helped him to be more focused than he has been previously. The change is noticeable, this is the most lively Burns has been in any role since She's The One. Unfortunately, on his best day as an actor he's still reminds of Ben Affleck minus the charisma.

Director James Foley skillfully directs this con game and it's Mametesque script, which is no surprise. Foley was the man who successfully wrestled Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross to the screen. Confidence isn't as brilliant as that film but the script has it's moments especially those handled by Hoffman who once again shows what a true pro he is.

I neglected to mention that Andy Garcia turns up as an FBI agent on the trail of the con men. Watching Garcia makes you wish he and Burns could have switched roles. Shave the shaggy beard, blacken the hair and throw on a nice suit and Garcia could do the role with his eyes shut. Nothing against Ed Burns, he gets better as an actor each time out, but Confidence demands a pro and Garcia could have been that pro.

Movie Review Malibu's Most Wanted

Malibu's Most Wanted (2003) 

Directed by John Whitesell 

Written by Jamie Kennedy, Nick Swardson 

Starring Jamie Kennedy, Taye Diggs, Anthony Anderson, Blair Underwood, Regina Hall, Bo Derek, Snoop Dogg 

Release Date April 18th, 2003 

Published April 16th, 2003 

I don't want to be mean but for the life of me I can't figure out what Jamie Kennedy has done to earn an over the title credit on a feature film. His career is dotted by a number of direct to video comedies like the dreadful Sol Goode and strange thrillers like Pretty When You Cry opposite Sam Elliott. Huh? He can't still be riding his minuscule success as the film geek in Scream 1 & 2.

It likely stems from the inexplicable success of his TV show, “The Jamie Kennedy Experience.” I use the term success loosely as it's difficult calling any show on the WB network a success. The show which incorporates sketch comedy and warmed over Tom Green street pranks appeals to teenage boys well enough that it makes sense that a marketer might pick up on Kennedy and see a product he can sell. That still doesn't quite explain how Malibu's Most Wanted made it to the big screen but nevertheless here it is.

Kennedy is B-Rad or really just Brad Gluckman, the son of a millionaire candidate for California governor (Ryan O'Neal). Brad fancies himself a gangsta based on his love of the stereotypical culture portrayed in so-called gangsta rap. B-Rad has just returned home to help his dad's campaign by helping to attract black people to the campaign. Brad's ingenious ideas include interrupting a live press conference with a horrible rap and appealing to a conference with female voters with a sign that states "Bill Gluckman is down with the Bitches and the Ho's).

Sensing that Brad is a liability to the campaign, Dad and his campaign advisor (Blair Underwood) conspire to cure Brad of his poseur ways. The idea is to hire a pair of black actors to abduct Brad and teach him what the gangsta lifestyle is really like. As Underwood's character puts it, they will "scare the black out of him.”

The campaign hires Sean (Taye Diggs) and P.J (Anthony Anderson) to play the gangstas. Unfortunately, neither actor knows anything about the hood. In turn, they hire PJ's cousin Shondra (Regina Hall) to help them learn what the hood is like so they can scare Brad.

Everything goes to plan as Sean and P.J kidnap Brad with Shondra as bait and bring him to Shondra's house in what was formerly known as South Central Los Angeles. Sean and P.J play up gangster personas all the while complimenting each other on how authentic their characters are. Diggs and Anderson are the film's main assets and provide the only solid laughs.

The set up works only in short spurts and only in the scenes with Diggs and Anderson who are so good at times they make Kennedy seem like a co-star in his own movie. Indeed a film taken from Sean and PJ's perspective would have been far funnier than what we get in Malibu's Most Wanted. At about the one hour mark of the 80 minute movie, Sean and P.J are shoved into the background in favor of Brad's forced love story with Shondra and another kidnapping, this time by a real gangsta named Tec (Damien Dante Wayans). It is then that Malibu's Most Wanted loses what little humor it generates.

Taye Diggs is one of the smartest actors working today. Sadly, like Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt, his good looks often prevent people from taking his talent seriously. Because of his boy toy role in How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Diggs will forever be typecast in the role of eye candy for drawing women into theaters. This obscures his work which in films as varied as the cheesy horror sendup House On Haunted Hill to the hip hop romance Brown Sugar has shown great wit and an ability to play off of anyone and hold his own. Most recently, Diggs had a terrific guest turn on the TV show “Ed” where he played himself, or rather what Ed thought Taye Diggs would be like if he met him in person.

You could call early 2003 the year of uncomfortable racial humor. There’s been Steve Martin and Queen Latifah in the tepid Bringing Down The House, Chris Rock's caustic political satire Head Of State and now Malibu's Most Wanted. Only Head Of State manages to do something with its racial content with Rock skewing racism from all sides. Bringing Down The House wants to satirize white stereotypes of black culture but lacks the courage to break from a sitcom formula to take on the subject. Malibu's Most Wanted is even less successful because it lacks the insight into Brad's identity to either portray it sympathetically or skewer satirically. Kennedy seems to want it both ways. He wants the audience to sympathize with Brad and also laugh at his over the top antics.

The elements of the sketch comedy character that B-Rad was conceived from don't translate to an 80-minute feature, and without a perspective, either sympathetic or satiric, you’re left with nothing but a confused character and audience. What this film says about Jamie Kennedy as a viable movie star is very little. The marketing campaign may lure people to theaters but the film itself will leave them wondering why they wasted the time to see it.

Movie Review Holes

Holes (2003) 

Directed by Andrew Davis 

Written by Louis Sachar 

Starring Shia LeBeouf, Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Patricia Arquette, Tim Blake Nelson 

Release Date April 18th, 2003 

Published April 17th, 2003 

Posters and wall hangings for the movie Holes began popping up in my local theater over 3 months ago. Because they touted the Disney connection of the film, I took little notice of them writing the film off as yet another formula Disney family movie. It wasn't until recently that I found out Holes is based on a book that had been a phenomenal hit with grade schoolers. This piqued my interest so I checked in with my grade school pop culture consultants, my nieces Megan, 11, and Alexa, 9. They told me that indeed Holes was a big hit in their school though Alexa was more interested than Megan was. Alexa was a little annoyed about my questions because she claims she told me about Holes a long time ago. So armed with this new knowledge, and never one to be left out of the pop culture loop, I went and checked out the movie.

Holes tells a couple of parallel stories that all play into one central story. The center of the story is Stanley Yelnats (Shia Lebeouf) who while walking home is hit in the head by a pair of baseball cleats. What Stanley doesn't know right away is that shoes were stolen from a charity auction for the homeless and were the property of a famous ballplayer. The film doesn't tip off the audience to exactly what is happening, all we know is that Stanley didn't steal the shoes but is nevertheless railroaded in court and sentenced to 18 months in a juvenile camp called Camp Greenlake.

The name Camp Greenlake is ironic because it’s far from green and there is no lake anywhere. The camp is in the middle of the desert and is run by three numbskull bad guys, Mr. Sir (Jon Voight), Dr. Pendanski (Tim Blake Nelson) and Warden Walker (Sigourney Weaver). According to the slimy Mr. Sir, Stanley's punishment at Camp Greenlake for his 18-month stay is to dig holes. Everyday for endless hours, nothing but digging. The counselors say digging builds character but it’s obvious to even the camp's most dunderheaded inhabitant that they are digging for something.

That something may be the treasure of a legendary bank robber known as Kissin Kate Barlow (Patricia Arquette). Kate Barlow was once a loving, docile school teacher who taught both the children and adults of Greenlake how to read and write. Her life was changed forever by a short sweet romance with Sam the onion man (West Wing’s Dule Hill). It began simply enough with Sam trading Kate his delicious onions in exchange for her delicious peaches. Then Sam offered to fix holes in the schoolhouse roof and from there, a tentative romance that is sweet and tender and yet barely takes up 10 to 15 minutes of screentime. The Sam and Kate subplot is the best thing about the film. Director Andrew Davis paints the romance quickly but without sacrificing the tenderness and Arquette and Hill have terrific chemistry. As the subplot develops in flashback, the fact that Sam is black tips the audience to the likely tragic ending of the romance to come.

There is yet another flashback story that plays into the main story, which is the story of the Yelnats family curse that Stanley believes has landed him in trouble. It seems years ago before coming to America Stanley's great grandfather made a deal with a sorceress Madam Zeroni, but before completing the deal he ran off to America and Madame Zeroni curse the family forever.

I won't reveal how the subplots play into the film’s main story, but I will say that it all makes sense in the end and the multiple flashbacks never become overbearing or distracting. They each reveal little clues that play in the ending of the film. Again I cannot praise enough the romance between Arquette and Hill which is of course meant to teach a lesson of history and tolerance. Because of Davis' skillful direction and writer Louis Sachar's smart script (Sachar also wrote the book), the subplot never seems preachy or heavy-handed.

The surprising thing about Holes is the amount of negativity sprinkled throughout that the film’s cute kids movie trailer doesn't prepare you for. The trailer is quite a swerve, leading those who didn't read the book to think you were seeing a Goonies-like gang of friends who stand up to the bad guys and work together as friends to find treasure. In reality, the supporting characters played up as Stanley's friends are for most of the film rather mean and unlikable. That is destined to change by the end of the film but it's certainly surprising at the beginning. Credit Sachar for such a risky choice to allow the kids of Camp Greenlake to actually be the obnoxious troublemakers that would end up being sent to a camp like the one in the film.

The problem areas of the film come from its one-note villains, Weaver, Nelson and especially Jon Voight. Playing a verified version of his amazon guide from Anaconda, Voight gets on your nerves with his many character quirks and quick tempered over acting. As for Weaver and Nelson, they don't rely on quirks and over acting likely because their character development was left on the cutting room floor, leaving them to simply be jerks. The film’s pacing is also at times a little slow and will leave many checking their watch and feeling they have been in the theater far longer than it seems

Nevertheless, there is more good than bad in Holes which is a parable about race, love, family and friendship masked in a mystery about buried treasure and western legend. With such unwieldy elements to tie into one story, credit Louis Sachar and Andrew Davis for making the film coherent. That it's also mildly entertaining is a nice bonus.

Movie Review: A Mighty Wind

A Mighty Wind (2003) 

Directed by Christopher Guest 

Written by Christopher Guest 

Starring Bob Balaban, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Parker Posey 

Release Date April 16th, 2003 

Published April 23rd, 2003 

The genius of Christopher Guest, as exhibited in the brilliant Waiting For Guffman and the even better Best In Show, is once again on display in the folk music sendup A Mighty Wind. That genius is tempered though by a pervasive attitude of insincerity in the film’s closing moments. Nevertheless, a flawed Christopher Guest comedy is better than most Hollywood comedies. Using the same faux documentary style that has become his trademark, Guest and his usual company of actors deliver a satirical take on the 60’s folk music scene. 

As the story goes, legendary folk music promoter Irving Steinbloom has passed away. Irving’s son Jonathon (Bob Balaban) is memorializing his father by reuniting his three favorite groups for a concert to be broadcast live on public television. We then meet each of the groups, including the Folksmen (Guest, Harry Shearer and Michael McKean), who’s one big hit was inspired by the burned out neon of a restaurant sign “E At O’s”. The New Main Street Singers are the result of a pair of folk groups who joined forces back in the sixties. Now most of the original members are gone, replaced by frighteningly cheery cultists Terry and Jane Bohner (John Michael Higgins and Jane Lynch). Paul Dooley plays the only remaining original member, while Fred Willard plays the group’s manager, a clueless self-absorbed former child star who can’t let go of the spotlight and especially his annoying catchphrase “Wha Happened”.

The centerpiece of the show and the film is the duo Mitch (Eugene Levy) and Mickey (Catherine O’Hara). The biggest stars on the roster, Mitch and Mickey haven’t worked together since a legendary onstage kiss during a televised performance of their biggest hit “A Kiss At The End of the Rainbow.” Nowadays Mitch is a mess. just out of a mental institute and Mickey is happily married to a medical supply salesman. Ed Begley Jr. rounds out the cast as Lars Olfen, the head of the public TV network and a Swede in origin who nevertheless loves to speak Yiddish. Begley is priceless as he criticizes the small-scale production of the show, insisting he can get a big crane at a moment’s notice.

The great thing about Christopher Guest’s films are the actors and Guest’s insistence on unscripted dialogue, which though it can be hit and miss, it hits far more than it misses. Watch John Michael Higgins and Jane Lynch as they recount how they met with increasing looniness. Guest let’s them go on and on until it’s clear they have run out of ad-libs. Then of course there is Guest, Shearer and McKean, clearly enjoying the Spinal Tap reunion with even worse hairstyles. The ease of rapport between the three is astonishing and hilarious, what a great team.

Not only is the dialogue ad-libbed but also so are the songs in a way ad-libbed. In a risky and unique choice Guest and the cast wrote their own folk tunes which we hear in the film’s climactic concert scene. The songs are surprisingly good, and Levy and O’Hara truly amaze with their poignant rendition of their hit song. While the Folksman and The New Main Street Singers are plated to the height of satire, Mitch and Mickey have an edge of reality to them. The story behind the duo, how they met, and how they broke up, is a sweet story and very well played by these two amazing comic actors.

The first 75 to 80 minutes of A Mighty Wind, from the beginning through the concert is very funny and enjoyable. However, after the concert the film doesn’t end. The scenes that close the film wrap up what happened to the groups after the show and feel like a slap in the face to anyone who enjoyed the film through the concert. The cynical scenes that make these likable characters into buffoons are a betrayal to what came before them.

The ending is actually the most conventional element of the film. Like any Hollywood film that doesn’t end when you think it should, it fills the audience with a sense of dread that turns to sadness and near disgust because you wish it had ended when you expected. Still, for most of the film it’s a funny, sweet, entertaining satire filled with great performances. And of course when compared to most modern comedies, even with it’s flaws, A Mighty Wind is genius.