Director: Rob Reiner
Cast: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner
Have I Seen It Before: Hmm… Tricky question. Obviously the film is brand new, so…
Let’s just get into it.
Did I Like It: I always say that the the most disappointing* thing that a documentary can be is feel like a DVD special feature. I’m not even saying that I necessarily dislike a DVD special feature. Occasionally they can be entertaining. Occasionally they can have some insight. Often, it feels a little antiseptic, so as to be so careful not to overshadow the film its built to support.
I laughed at several points in the film, but I didn’t have that vaguely, but pleasurably unsettled feeling that this is a work of deeply demented people who have honed their eccentricities into one of the most finely tuned comedies ever made. Exploring the fine line between clever and stupid, if you will.
Expecting that much from a sequel 40-plus years after the original is likely unfair, but the comparison is tricky if not impossible to avoid. The over-under on Reiner and the cast is 80, and the notion that someone can still revolutionize their form seems absurd as I type it.
And yet, this could have been something more, other than an above-average item on the special features menu of a 40th Anniversary Blu Ray**. It could have had fewer celebrity cameos. The thing is chock-a-block with them. Paul McCartney is practically a fourth member of the band, and what little third act the film has is tied to how much time they were willing to get from Elton John. It could have fewer callbacks to the first film. Yes, Stonehenge makes an appearance. They try to make it different than the last time, but it’s entirely too self-conscious to work on its own.
*Not the worst thing, mind you. We leave the worst to Leni Riefenstahl. Let’s just be clear about that.
**Yeah, I get it. It needs to be 4K. I’ll get there eventually. Just not today.