I'll bet you never thought you'd be hearing about a movie surrounding the cutthroat world of competitive barbershop quartet singing.
Honestly, technically you still haven't. But the new documentary "American Harmony" comes pretty close, if you subtract the cutthroat part.
See, while the competition is healthy enough, and the guys want it bad, it's really a pretty laid-back affair.
The film follows three quartets in their respective quests to win the championship at the annual championships: one is a "supergroup" of sorts, comprised of 4 top individual singers, who for some reason have never gelled into a championship squad; another is full of young upstarts, and the third follows an underdog quartet just happy to be there.
The film's biggest problem is that it's just too darned polite. Conflicts are glossed over and quickly downplayed. When one of the quartets is snubbed in the championships, we hear grumblings that it may be politically motivated, but never learn why; an internal conflict in one group is brought up, but quickly defused.
We do get a fun look into a sort of subculture, where it's not just singing, but often elaborate costumes, skits and even comedic Vaudeville-like routines thrill audiences. One group's dentist routine left the crowd in stitches.
We also see the nerves of guys who devote a lot of time to what they even call a "hobby," and it's clear they have a passion for what they do, and many of them are very good at it as well.
It's also surprising to see the amount of money the events appear to generate. The championships were held at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where rent would have to be pretty high for what one would imagine a low-budget production, and they feature a rather elaborate stage as well.
""American Harmony" isn't going to do for barbershop singing what "King of Kong" did for video games, but it's a leisurely, respectful look into the lives of a group of people we might otherwise never get to know.
Rating: 3 Yaps out of 5