Ok, I’ll keep review keep reviewing. It’s been over thirty years since This Is Spinal Tap defined the mockumentary. Tap remains the gold standard for both the genres of music parody and documentary parody. And yet, I’ll rarely tire of attempts to dethrone his majesty, futilte as these attempts are. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping was a pretty good one; this would-be abdicator made it to the castle steps I think. Well, maybe the moat.
Conner Friel, a.k.a. Conner4Real (Andy Samburg), is a popstar gone bridezilla … or whatever the popstar term is for assuming your world and the Earth are one-and-the-same. Split from his hit teen trio, “The Style Boyz” (rounded out by Popstar directors Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer), Conner takes to indulgence like bling to a rapper. His personal entourage includes 32 different folks; his soon-to-be released album has collected the imprint of 100 different producers; his sycophants have sycophants. Oh no, has success gone to his head? When he sings “Mona Lisa, you’re an overrated piece of shit” is he going through the motions or is he really making an honest commentary on the Louvre’s most famous attraction?
Popstar is essentially an elongated version of Spinal Tap’s third act; we begin in break-up mode and most of the movie reflects on how Conner4Real deals with his solo career. One member of the original trio, Owen (Taccone), has been reduced to the guy who brings an iPod on stage and pushes the “go” button. His lyricist, Lawrence (Schaffer), is now a backwoods counter-culturist and the world’s worst farmer. As Samburg plays Conner consistently as larger-than-life, the bigger laughs often come from these more modest portrayals. Lawrence’s hand-crafted and proudly displayed wood carvings are a level of pathetic that goes to 11.
What suffices for plot in a movie like this is Conner’s new album bites. Luckily this leads to a clear homage to Tap: the “reading your own bad reviews” scene. The album’s lack-of-artistry in turn challenges Conner’s existing relationships, like
that with his manager (Tim Meadows) and the slow-brewing rivalry with his hand-picked touring partner, Hunter (Chris Redd). The music is the best part of this film, especially if you don’t mind the colorful language exrcised in unnecessarily graphic tunes like, “I Want to Fuck You Like the U.S. Fucked Osama Bin Laden.” Sure, this film will remind you of the SNL “Dick In A Box” music video, but that was funny, too.
In the past few years, I’ve endured popumentaries on the order of the Jonas Brothers, One Direction and two (2!) celerating the humble wizardry that is Justin Bieber. Spinal Tap homage or not, Popstar took a necessary bite out of this fabricated euphoria. I wish there were at least ten films like this for every bloated, sycophantic genuflection in cinematic form for yet another teenage musical “genius.”
♪Baby look at me, or else I’m incomplete
I’m used up; the karma’s all gone
When I’m on, do your best to stifle that yawn
I’ve got words in me, just you wait and see
I can devastate with vocab
Do you know what rhymes with “cooch?”
Remember my game
Lame!
I’m going to live til Wednesday
I’m going to piss off the press
(Yes!)
I feel the need for rehab
People will say “what a mess!”♫
Rated R, 86 Minutes
D: Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone
W: Andy Samberg & Akiva Schaffer & Jorma Taccone
Genre: Spinal Tap, Mach II
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Spinal Tap fans who have yet to see Spinal Tap
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Anne Murray fans
♪ Parody inspired by “Fame”
