"The Guitar" is inspired by a true story. Overflowing with an energy and vitality that belies the initial darkness of its narrative, "The Guitar" is a transcendent respite from the turmoil of our troubled times. One morning Mel, a mousy, harried New Yorker with a thankless job and an even-less-appealing boyfriend learns that the tumor in her throat is cancerous and the diagnosis is terminal. She then hears that both her job and her relationship are coming to an end. Rather than wallowing in self-pity, she embarks on an endless spending spree, the kind of self-indulgent wish fulfillment that we have all fantasized about.