Penelope Spheeris understands how much music can matter to people who look foolish to everyone else. We value that sympathy and her comic timing, even when the scripts give her too little to work with.
Fi1m perspective
The to-camera interruptions in Wayne's World (1992) give us the pleasure of being included in Wayne and Garth's foolishness. Penelope Spheeris knows when to change pace, and lets the pair enjoy themselves without leaving every routine running indefinitely. We laughed at the sight gags and enjoyed Mike Myers and Dana Carvey's idle company more than the thin plot deserved. Their enthusiasm for heavy metal is allowed to be funny without becoming shameful. This is where we rate Spheeris: she takes pleasure in people whom another director might simply mock.
Her interest in music scenes predates the studio comedies. The Decline of Western Civilization (1981) documented Los Angeles punk, while Suburbia (1984) brought her documentary experience to a fictional story about young squatters and rebellion. Across her work, she often uses participants from the scenes she depicts alongside professional actors. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988) turned to Los Angeles heavy metal. Her knowledge of that scene, together with her acquaintance with producer Lorne Michaels, helped bring her to Wayne's World.
The comedy also makes clear the limits of keeping things moving. Whenever the screenplay needs Wayne and Garth to do more than amuse themselves, Spheeris has less to work with, and the changes of pace cannot disguise every stretched routine. The film is also occasionally tiresome about women, a qualification worth keeping alongside its affection for its leads. Myers and Carvey make the weaker stretches tolerable, but enjoying their company is a condition of enjoying the film. Spheeris gives them room while generally getting a failed joke out of the way before it becomes an ordeal.
The studio work that followed, including The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), left her with fewer opportunities for more personal films. Yet The Decline of Western Civilization Part III (1998) returned to Los Angeles punk, and We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n Roll (2001) continued her documentary work. It would be a mistake to let the comedies stand for all of that work, or to treat her feel for comic performance as an accidental benefit of knowing about music. For an undemanding evening, choose Wayne's World for the company and be prepared to forgive the padding.
Biography
Penelope Spheeris is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. She was born on 2 December 1945 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and studied at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Spheeris began her career making music videos and documentaries on the Los Angeles punk and metal scenes, including The Decline of Western Civilization (1981) and its two sequels. She later directed feature films such as Suburbia (1984), The Boys Next Door (1986) and Dudes (1987).
Her mainstream breakthrough came with the comedy Wayne's World (1992), her highest-grossing film. She subsequently directed The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), The Little Rascals (1994), Black Sheep (1996) and Senseless (1998).
