In 1984, Marty Di Bergi, an American director went on the road with British once-rock-and-roll-legends Spinal Tap. Consisting of bassist Derek Smalls, guitarist Nigel Tufnel, lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist David St. Hubbins, keyboardist Viv Savage, and a rotating cast of drummers unfortunately. Years before the documentary, their first drummer Joe Peeps passed away in his garden in a bizarre accident. So bizarre in fact, that medical authorities left it unsolved. A flurry of problems is documented on Spinal Tap’s first American tour in years, in support of their album Smell the Glove. The album itself, specifically the censored cover, was just the beginning of their troubles. Their promoter Artie Fufkin, who doesn’t have a musical bone in his body, mis-managed their album signing so horribly that no one bothered to show up. As the documentary continues, they keep playing mid-size venues while talentless bands like Duke Fame, who they run into in a hotel lobby, play arenas. Then it takes a turn for the worse. Eventually they’re playing Air Force bases, and lastly, an amphitheater at a zoo, after Tufnel leaves the band.
All of the above is true, because none of the above is true.

This Is Spinal Tap is Rob Reiner’s directorial debut, a fictional documentary. Reiner, along with his wife Michele Singer Reiner, who was a producer and photographer, passed December 14. They allegedly were slain by their own son, who at this point has now been formally charged with homicide. Reiner gained household recognition acting, during the 1970’s as Archie Bunker’s son-in-law on the sitcom All In The Family. That aside, Reiner has had a huge impact on American pop culture with moviemaking. Other than Spinal Tap, and depending on who you talk to, his biggest films can be argued as follows. Stand By Me, from 1986, The Princess Bride, 1987, When Harry Met Sally, 1989, 1990’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Misery, and, of course, A Few Good Men, 1992, with Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise.

Culturally speaking, Hollywood is abhorrently spited. Studio heads with a tendency to cast empathy aside, to make mass profit on what can potentially guarantee attention regarding audiences en masse. Reiner was, at least with his artistic catalogue, anything but. Bride is the first of his works that I remember seeing, and though I wouldn’t at the time admit it, became endearing. Even if there is a Chicago Bears reference on screen. It’s exactly the kind of movie that the youngest generations should bear witness to. Spinal Tap by far remains my favorite. People get into certain moods when performing or watching music, and the mock-umentary, arguably invented by Reiner, exploits it in all aspects of its narcissism. Arguably, one of the most quoted dialogue lines in pop culture is “you can’t handle the truth.”A Few remains one of the
most popular American dramas of the last 30 years at least. As I logged on to Instagram yesterday, it was very, very apparent that the truth was one I cannot handle. G**damn it.