Review by C.J. Bunce
Who knew Rob Reiner’s look back at his mockumentary This is Spinal Tap would have themes in common with Ron and Clint Howard’s look back at their careers in their autobiographical book The Boys? Born into comedy as the son of Hollywood icon Carl Reiner with a knack for improvisional theater, Rob landed the role of Meathead on one of the most successful TV series of the 1970s, All in the Family. But that was only the first step in becoming the director of major hits Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men, and Ghosts of Mississippi. Before all that the actor who played Squiggy on Laverne and Shirley introduced Reiner to some actors with an appreciation for music, and he and they pulled together more friends and made an unlikely cult classic after a sketch they created for a TV comedy special. The history of Spinal Tap, the movie, and its four creators is coming to bookstores next week. A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap, available for pre-order here at Amazon, written by Reiner with This is Spinal Tap co-star-writer-creators Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, is a Who’s Who of Hollywood and Rock, not unlike the rockumentary Yacht Rock: A Documentary, which spun together the interconnected nature of the rock scene in the 1970s to the 1980s through session musicians like Toto’s Steve Lukather. And yes, Lukather, plus John Belushi, Mama Cass Elliott, Janis Joplin, Jaws screenplay writer Carl Gottlieb, The Doors’ John Densmore, Paul McCartney, and hundreds of other familiar celebrities are woven into Reiner’s journey.
Last year when we previewed a set of retro action figures for the groundbreaking satirical film, we couldn’t have guessed the band would be getting back together for another movie. Reiner explains how it came together after Harry Shearer led an effort to wrangle the film rights, which resulted in this week’s theatrical release of the long-awaited sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. Guest is back as Nigel Tufnel, with McKean as David St. Hubbins and Shearer as Derek Smalls. Reiner leads the rockumentary format again as director Marty DiBergi.
It probably should be no surprise that the comedy and band movie concept sprouted from the same promordial soup as the Lemmings, National Lampoon, and Saturday Night Live, which resulted in decades of top comedy entertainers. The actors cast in supporting roles weren’t merely cast in the traditional manner, as Bruno Kirby, Ed Begley, Jr., Howard Hesseman, Paul Shaffer, Fred Willard, Billy Crystal, and others were friends or friends of friends tapped to join in on the fun.
As a bonus Reiner includes in his book all sorts of discarded ideas and filmed scenes that had to be left on the cutting room floor. A young Dana Carvey initially played a groupie following the group from town to town. Crystal was part of a catering service consisting of mimes. Did you know Reiner was the third host of Saturday Night Live, or that it was his idea to have John Belushi do his take on Joe Cocker as a musical act, in what would become a memorable moment of SNL history? The book is filled with Easter eggs and connections between people you know or might not have known were connected with the players, from Reiner’s first marriage to Penny Marshall to Chris Guest’s 40-year marriage with Jamie Lee Curtis (they got married at Reiner’s house). Fans of Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley will see the creation of McKean’s Lenny and David Lander’s Squiggy and how their routine made it onto the series. Reiner credits Lander with getting the actors behind the band together.
Reiner and the band actors reveal their creative process, beginning with cultivating actual lifelong musical talent. From there it was comedy writing and improv skills that came together. The band, the movie, and Reiner’s personal brand of humor ranges from the dry to the occasional gut buster. Where some writers conjure their ideas from thin air, Reiner took his ideas for the movie from real life, from collective happenings he and the other creators lived through or researched.
Reiner includes a decent write up of lyrics and what amounts as missing liner notes for the albums. He also includes quotes from performers who didn’t care for the movie, and others who did. He recounts how Aerosmith’s Steve Tyler was not a fan, then years later Spinal Tap in character was selected to present him with a music award. A few chapters chronicle how the band bridged the world of satire and reality, performing early on at well-known L.A. venues to get ready for the movie (flipping the script from opening for real bands to finding a band like Iron Butterfly opening for them) and later playing as a band in its own right with other metal groups in various high profile concerts internationally.
Published in hardcover with a section of photographs, the format includes a flip book/reverse cover titled Smell the Book: The Oral History of Spinal Tap, a play on the band’s Smell the Glove album, written by DiBergi, Tufnel, St. Hubbins, and Smalls. It’s an in-world account of the band in 70 pages via more mock interviews between Reiner’s character and the bandmates. The ad libbed brand of dialogue reminded me of the humor I’ve read from other comedians, like Steve Martin’s book Cruel Shoes, David Brenner’s Soft Pretzels with Mustard, Tom Arnold’s How I Lost 5 Pounds in 6 Years, and interviews with Harold Ramis. If you liked Zucker, Abraham, and Zucker’s Surely, You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! (reviewed here), Cy Chermak’s The Show Runner (reviewed here), or even Natasha Rogoff’s Muppets in Moscow chronicling the making of Sesame Street in Russia (reviewed here), and similar dives into the creative process reviewed here at borg, you’ll like A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever.
In case you missed it, here’s a trailer for the new film sequel:
Dial your amp up to eleven. Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is in theaters and IMAX this week. Will Rob Reiner’s sequel, taking advantage of our era of senior rock musicians looking back on their careers–providing a new level of satire of recent retrospective documentaries like Yacht Rock and The Wrecking Crew–capture what made This is Spinal Tap reach its audience in 1984? You’ll have to see the movie to find out.
A fun ride and time travel trip back to the 1970s with insight into film production and the comedy business from Gallery Books, A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap is available for pre-order here at Amazon, arriving in stores September 9, 2025.
