SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: A MIGHTY WIND

"A MIGHTY WIND"
(2003) (Eugene Levy, Michael McKean) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Minor	Minor	Mild	None	None

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Minor	None	None	Minor	Minor

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Heavy	None	Mild	Moderate	Minor

QUICK TAKE:: Comedy: Various folk music groups have just two weeks to come together to perform in a concert to honor the late man who helped them with their careers.

PLOT:

Legendary folk music icon Irving Steinbloom has recently passed away, and thus his middle-aged son, Jonathan (BOB BALABAN), has decided to put on a tribute concert performance in his memory. With only two weeks to go, he hopes to convince various groups that worked with his father to appear.

Among them are The Folksman -- Mark Shubb (HARRY SHEARER), Jerry Palter (MICHAEL McKEAN) and Alan Barrows (CHRISTOPHER GUEST) - "Mitch and Mickey" -- Mitch Cohen (EUGENE LEVY) and Mickey Crabbe (CATHERINE O'HARA) and the younger The New Main Street Singers - that includes the likes of Laurie (JANE LYNCH) and Terry Bohner (JOHN MICHAEL HIGGINS), Sissy Knox (PARKER POSEY) and others.

Working with public TV producer Lars Olfen (ED BEGLEY, JR.), public relations managers Wally Fenton (LARRY MILLER) and Amber Cole (JENNIFER COOLIDGE), manager Mike LaFontaine (FRED WILLARD), and the man who runs the venue, Lawrence E. Turpin (MICHAEL HITCHCOCK), Jonathan races against the clock -- as do the performers who hone their acts - to have everything ready for the big night.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're into folk music or are fans of anyone in the cast or "mockumentary" type films, they just might.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For sex-related humor.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: BOB BALABAN plays a perfectionist businessman who wants to put on a tribute for his late father.
HARRY SHEARER, MICHAEL McKEAN and CHRISTOPHER GUEST play members of a legendary folk group who try to get ready for the concert.
EUGENE LEVY and CATHERINE O'HARA play members of a duet that broke up decades ago and tries to get their act back together again for the performance despite his shell-shocked demeanor and apparent mental cloudiness.
JANE LYNCH plays a member of the one of the groups who claims to have been in the adult film business in the past. Her personal religion is worshipping colors.
PARKER POSEY plays a perky member of the same group.
FRED WILLARD plays that group's flamboyant manager, a former actor, who has bizarre ideas for them.
ED BEGLEY, JR. plays a public TV producer who's happy to put the show on TV.
MICHAEL HITCHCOCK plays the man who's in charge of the venue and can't stand Jonathan's demands and nitpickiness.
LARRY MILLER and JENNIFER COOLIDGE play public relations managers who help with the concert (she's more than a bit flighty and he's blasé).; HARRY SHEARER, MICHAEL McKEAN and CHRISTOPHER GUEST play members of a legendary folk group who try to get ready for the concert.
EUGENE LEVY and CATHERINE O'HARA play members of a duet that broke up decades ago and tries to get their act back together again for the performance despite his shell-shocked demeanor and apparent mental cloudiness.
JANE LYNCH plays a member of the one of the groups who claims to have been in the adult film business in the past. Her personal religion is worshipping colors.
PARKER POSEY plays a perky member of the same group.
FRED WILLARD plays that group's flamboyant manager, a former actor, who has bizarre ideas for them.
ED BEGLEY, JR. plays a public TV producer who's happy to put the show on TV.
MICHAEL HITCHCOCK plays the man who's in charge of the venue and can't stand Jonathan's demands and nitpickiness.
LARRY MILLER and JENNIFER COOLIDGE play public relations managers who help with the concert (she's more than a bit flighty and he's blasé).; EUGENE LEVY and CATHERINE O'HARA play members of a duet that broke up decades ago and tries to get their act back together again for the performance despite his shell-shocked demeanor and apparent mental cloudiness.
JANE LYNCH plays a member of the one of the groups who claims to have been in the adult film business in the past. Her personal religion is worshipping colors.
PARKER POSEY plays a perky member of the same group.
FRED WILLARD plays that group's flamboyant manager, a former actor, who has bizarre ideas for them.
ED BEGLEY, JR. plays a public TV producer who's happy to put the show on TV.
MICHAEL HITCHCOCK plays the man who's in charge of the venue and can't stand Jonathan's demands and nitpickiness.
LARRY MILLER and JENNIFER COOLIDGE play public relations managers who help with the concert (she's more than a bit flighty and he's blasé).; JANE LYNCH plays a member of the one of the groups who claims to have been in the adult film business in the past. Her personal religion is worshipping colors.
PARKER POSEY plays a perky member of the same group.
FRED WILLARD plays that group's flamboyant manager, a former actor, who has bizarre ideas for them.
ED BEGLEY, JR. plays a public TV producer who's happy to put the show on TV.
MICHAEL HITCHCOCK plays the man who's in charge of the venue and can't stand Jonathan's demands and nitpickiness.
LARRY MILLER and JENNIFER COOLIDGE play public relations managers who help with the concert (she's more than a bit flighty and he's blasé).; PARKER POSEY plays a perky member of the same group.
FRED WILLARD plays that group's flamboyant manager, a former actor, who has bizarre ideas for them.
ED BEGLEY, JR. plays a public TV producer who's happy to put the show on TV.
MICHAEL HITCHCOCK plays the man who's in charge of the venue and can't stand Jonathan's demands and nitpickiness.
LARRY MILLER and JENNIFER COOLIDGE play public relations managers who help with the concert (she's more than a bit flighty and he's blasé).; FRED WILLARD plays that group's flamboyant manager, a former actor, who has bizarre ideas for them.
ED BEGLEY, JR. plays a public TV producer who's happy to put the show on TV.
MICHAEL HITCHCOCK plays the man who's in charge of the venue and can't stand Jonathan's demands and nitpickiness.
LARRY MILLER and JENNIFER COOLIDGE play public relations managers who help with the concert (she's more than a bit flighty and he's blasé).; ED BEGLEY, JR. plays a public TV producer who's happy to put the show on TV.
MICHAEL HITCHCOCK plays the man who's in charge of the venue and can't stand Jonathan's demands and nitpickiness.
LARRY MILLER and JENNIFER COOLIDGE play public relations managers who help with the concert (she's more than a bit flighty and he's blasé).; MICHAEL HITCHCOCK plays the man who's in charge of the venue and can't stand Jonathan's demands and nitpickiness.
LARRY MILLER and JENNIFER COOLIDGE play public relations managers who help with the concert (she's more than a bit flighty and he's blasé).; LARRY MILLER and JENNIFER COOLIDGE play public relations managers who help with the concert (she's more than a bit flighty and he's blasé).

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

Here's a brief summary of the content found in this comedy that's been rated PG-13. Some sexually related dialogue and humorous material is present (including material about a sex shop and a woman appearing in porno films) as are the sounds (muffled voices, pleasured moans and bed thumping) of a couple having sex next door in a hotel room.

Profanity consists of a handful of minor expletives, a few colorful phrases are present, and a man lightly slaps another man on the head out of frustration. A few people have bad attitudes (played for laughs), a few people drink and some mild tense family material is present.

If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Various people have drinks.
Various people have drinks at a party.

BLOOD/GORE: Mickey's husband, who sells catheters, briefly talks about incontinence and that one thing that can cause that is constipation (and briefly goes on about impacted fecal matter in the rectum).

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Some viewers might not like a couple (man and woman) who claim that they're witches (although they do point out that they're not into the supernatural, but rather the worship of colors).
LaFontaine is somewhat disrespectful to the Deputy Mayor by wondering why the "real" Mayor didn't show up for a ceremony.
Jonathan nitpicks the setup for the stage and other arrangements to the extent that he becomes an annoyance to the man responsible for it (that causes that other man to slap Jonathan on the head out of frustration and to make him stop).

FRIGHTENING SCENES: None.

GUNS/WEAPONS: None.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "You sing like crap," "You little bugger," "Nobody's busting your chops" and "Crapola."

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): None.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): One song had 1 "damn" in it, while another mentioned something about apple brandy.

PROFANITY: At least 3 craps, 2 damns, 4 uses of "Oh my God" and 1 use each of "Oh Jesus" and "Swear to God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: We hear that some musicians in the past opened a sex shop and then see a still photo of it with the words "Sex Emporium" (and other related phrases) and the silhouetted artwork shapes of women on it (nothing explicit). One person says they did fine until they were sued over something dealing with "Ben-Wa balls."
One of the singers talks about leaving home when she was fifteen, meeting up with the above men who ran the sex shop, and having small roles in some "short films...for more mature audiences." She then says she landed some leads, had some cameos, and was known for doing something the other actresses wouldn't do. She also mentions one of her films was "Not So Tiny Tim" and the film's joke is that her last name is now "Bohner" (rather than "boner").
Mickey's husband has built a miniature railroad town that includes a brothel that he points out (we see a small, doll figure through the window that's supposed to represent a prostitute).
We hear rhythmic sexual sounds (muffled voices, pleasured moans and bed thumping) coming from the hotel room next to Mitch's and then see that the thumping is shaking the wall in Mitch's room. This occurs again later in the film.
A man jokes about something to do with a man and a long hose, and how he'll be popular in the shower (innuendo).
LaFontaine tells a joke about going to a swingers meeting where a man said, "I'd like to meet your wife" and LaFontaine says, "You're honor..."
A PR woman shows some cleavage.
Mitch makes some sort of comment about taking up with a hotel chambermaid in the past.
A man claims that a ceremonial candle represents various things, including a penis (but it's shaped like a regular candle).
Mickey says that her sister told her that she (Mickey) shouldn't have kissed Mitch if she wasn't willing to "go all the way."

SMOKING: None.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: We hear that Jonathan's father has died, but there's no grieving and instead he organizes the tribute concert. We do see, however, that Jonathan and his siblings don't get along (albeit in a polite manner).

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Folk music.
Being in a band or in the music business.
"Mockumentaries."
Losing a parent.
Incontinence.
We see that one of the male members of a band has now become (or at least is dressed as) a woman and she/he comments on the need for that.

VIOLENCE: A man lightly slaps Jonathan on the head for being too much of a perfectionist and repeatedly nitpicking his design.

Reviewed April 4, 2003 / Posted April 16, 2003

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