When we first meet Mickey in the movie’s first act, O’Hara plays her much like the other folkie goofballs in the film. The first half of A Mighty Wind pokes fun at the intense sincerity of ’60s folk music, with its sweater-wearing players and its wholesomeness. But then, the film uncovers surprising lasciviousness among the players, such as the insults that the Folksmen shoot at each other or the New Main Street Players’ embrace of pagan rituals.
Mitch & Mickey Revisited
Mickey continues in that vein by sitting in her comfy living room and, in a Minnesotan accent that would be right at home in Fargo, sharing winsome memories about her time with Mitch. O’Hara sneaks panic into Mickey’s calm demeanor when she realizes that she’s agreed to perform the song without securing a commitment from Mitch, and that Mitch is unlikely to join. Stumbling over her words, taking quick sharp breaths to maintain her composure, Mickey starts muttering to herself about dark times around their break-up.
What follows is a series of talking heads describing Mitch’s post-break-up spiral, complete with images of album covers that show Mitch standing in a grave and looking like Charles Manson. Levy plays Mitch as a complete weirdo, who speaks his lines with tense discomfort and who constantly darts his eyes around the room.
Between the two, Levy gets the bigger and more attention-grabbing part. However, his character doesn’t work without O’Hara setting him up, preparing us for a genius and giving room for Levy to get weird. That’s true throughout the film, as when Mitch visits Mickey’s home and the two reunite for the first time in years. These moments let Levy do funny things like stare with confusion at the model trains constructed by Mickey’s husband Leonard (Jim Piddock), or ramble incoherently when trying to recall the duo’s first meeting.
Rather than simply stand aside, O’Hara finds more subtle and equally strange notes to play while portraying the “normal” one. O’Hara goes through a litany of grunts and facial tics when trying to get Leonard to stop talking about his company’s work with spastic bladders over dinner, finally declaring, in a calming mom voice, “Maybe that’s dessert talk.” She gets the punchline at the end of the first meeting story, describing in detail how Mitch stood up and strode across a concert venue to confront a rude heckler, only to end it by saying, “and he got pummeled.”
A Click At the End of the Rainbow
As much as O’Hara shows off her comedy chops with Mickey, she never stops treating the character like a real person. There’s genuine longing in her eyes when she watches Mitch tell stories about their past, and real fear as the tribute concert draws near.
