Director Marty Di Bergi first unleashed This is Spinal Tap on the world in 1984. A documentary chronicling the final North American tour by the titular fading British heavy rock outfit, the film is a look at the flatulent inner workings of the veteran group as the band members’ relationships fray, and everything that could go wrong — from too-small lunch meats in the dressing room to a too-small stage prop for a major musical number — does go wrong.
Okay, there is no Marty Di Bergi and there is no Spinal Tap…sort of. Di Bergi is actually the alter ego of actor/director Rob Reiner, who made his directorial debut with This is Spinal Tap. The mock documentary stars comedians Michael McKean as singer David St. Hubbins, Christopher Guest as guitarist Nigel Tufnel, and Harry Shearer as bassist Derek Smalls, the perpetually befuddled core members of the band. All three play it straight, with uproarious results, as the hapless rock dinosaurs (and their string of dying drummers) stumble through a series of debacles that, to this day, ring uncomfortably true to many real-life musicians.
