Analysis
Symbols and Tropes
Hero's Journey
Ever notice that every blockbuster movie has the same fundamental pieces? A hero, a journey, some conflicts to muck it all up, a reward, and the hero returning home and everybody applauding his or...
Setting
Because the boys are on tour throughout the entire movie, there aren't really any single locations that get a ton of play. But there are a few places where some crucial events go down, so, let's ta...
Point of View
MockumentaryRob Reiner easily could have made this your run-of-the-mill, straight narrative comedy. It could have just been the story of a few bumbling buffoons trying to keep the band together, to...
Genre
Comedy; Satire (Mockumentary); MusicalSince our sides hurt from laughing so much by the time the end credits roll—yeah, pretty safe to go ahead and label this one a comedy. The film's a send up o...
What's Up With the Title?
When discussing this film, you will almost never hear someone refer to it by its full title. It's always just Spinal Tap. That's hardly fair, is it? What if we all called The Wizard of Oz just Oz?...
What's Up With the Ending?
What—didn't you want Nigel to come back? As this is a light-hearted comedy, of course everything has to turn out hunky-dory. Nigel returns and rejoins the band, he and David are no longer at odds...
Shock Rating
RThis is Spinal Tap is rated R, although one wonders what it might be rated in this day and age, now that everyone's been totally corrupted. There's some naughty language, some uber-suggestive song...