Rob Reiner

There was at least one bit of truth in this movie, and that's that Rob Reiner was the director. All right, so he went by "Marty DiBergi" in the film, but who are we to judge someone for having an alias? We sometimes tell the guy at Starbucks that our name is Admiral Fuzzy. We get the allure of living a secret life.

So how does one direct a movie without an actual script? Well, even though this was a non-traditional project, there was still plenty for Reiner to do to keep this train from going off the tracks. As far as performances went, it was up to him to help shape the characters everyone was creating, and to make sure that they made sense individually, as well as within the world of rock and roll.

Reiner spent two years editing 50 hours of recorded footage to a slightly more manageable 82 minutes. And, of course, he worked with costumers, lighting and set designers, etc., to perfect the sense of realism that's clearly on display throughout the movie. It's so realistic that it inspired many honest-to-goodness rock legends to remark that the true-to-life feel of the picture hit a little too close to home for them, and in some cases even made them cry rather than laugh.

Reiner's got comedy in his DNA. His father is Carl Reiner—an actor, writer, director, producer, Grammy and Emmy Award winning legend. You probably know him best from the Ocean's 11 movies; he played Saul Bloom, the old con man who fakes a heart attack. But he was a staple of television in the 1950s and teamed up with Mel Brooks for some classic comedy albums.

The son had some pretty big shoes to fill, but he sure managed to fill them. He was star of the groundbreaking 1970s sitcom All in the Family; he directed a bunch of successful films in addition to Spinal Tap, including When Harry Met Sally, Stand By Me, A Few Good Men, and The Princess Bride. He's got acting chops, too, winning Emmys for his role on All in the Family, and appearing in more than 25 films from Sleepless in Seattle to The Wolf of Wall Street. (Source)

Spinal Tap was Reiner's first directing effort. Everything else must have seemed like a piece of cake.