THE RUTLES 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch

Before there was Spinal Tap, ex-Monty Python funnyman Eric Idle made a fake documentary for TV in 1978 called The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash. More than a little Beatles-esque, The Rutles featured four lads from Liverpool that became the biggest band ever. Now Idle is back as intrepid documentarian Melvin Hall, delving into the history of how The Rutles conquered the world.

Now I haven't seen Eric Idle's original film, but my guess would be that Rutles 2 is mining the same territory, or more specifically the same footage, that made up the original. Meet the boys: Dirk McQuickly (the Paul McCartney "cute one", portrayed by a much younger Eric Idle), Ron Nasty (aka John Lennon, played by Neil Innes, who penned all The Rutles songs), Stig O'Hara (like George Harrison, "the quiet one", played by Ricky Fataar, an accomplished musician who was with The Beach Boys in the 70s), and, well, Barry (who, like Ringo, is kind of just along).

The Rutles lovingly recreates, shot-by-shot, famous Beatles footage from the landing at JFK in New York for the first time, to scenes from A Hard Day's Rut, to the costumes of the "Tragical History Tour". But not only that, Neil Innes provided a pitch-perfect soundtrack of songs that, unless you listened closely, you wouldn't even notice that they were goofy knock-offs. For instance, the song "I Must Be in Love" goes:

I feel good
I feel bad
I feel happy
I feel sad
Do you think I'm in love? (aahaah)
I must be in love

I feel rich (oooo, la la la)
I feel poor (oooo, la la la)
I'm in doubt (oooo, la la la)
I feel sure (oooo, la la la)
Am I in love? (aahaah)
I must be in love

For a moment, I caught myself wondering which Beatles album the song came from... must be early Beatles... pure pop, right? Musically, things start to get more notably weird around what would be the Yellow Submarine era; and apparently the song "Cheese and Onions" is a cult favorite of fans from the original 1978 film.

The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch is an affectionate and silly ode to the glory of the Beatles as a cultural and pop phenomenon. It is peppered with straight-faced celebrity interviews, famous folks who wax poetic about how much The Rutles meant to them. Eric Idle must have many friends in Hollywood, considering the surprising guest-spots, who include David Bowie, Tom Hanks, Conan O'Brien, Carrie Fisher, Garry Shandling, and even Salman Rushdie (adding a academic tone to the proceedings) among others. Extended interviews and outtakes provide some of the funnier extras on the DVD. (Bonnie Raitt, for instance, has some surprising comic timing. When asked why her favorite Rutle was Stig, she says with a cryptic smile, "I liked his length.")

Beatles fans will get a kick out of The Rutles 2, even if (like me) they haven't seen the original film. Jokes may fly over the heads of casual fans and the disinterested, but the film isn't really aimed towards them. As this sequel was made in 2002, I was a little disappointed to find that there wasn't any "where are they now?" follow-up on the lives of Dirk, Ron, Stig, and Barry. They are all preserved in youthful footage. Maybe the real Beatles story (with Lennon's assasination, and then George's death) was too sad and too close to include, but we all like to remember them young and cute anyway—in real life, and in mockumentaries.