Waiting for Guffman (1997)

One of the funniest films in many a moon was hiding at art house theaters in 1998. Former Saturday Night Live comedian and Spinal Tap member Christopher Guest creates the ultimate parody of small-town dramatics, Waiting for Guffman. Corky St. Claire (Guest), an overwhelming drama director hiding out in Blaine, Missouri, thinks he has found the vehicle to put him back on Broadway: the city's 150th anniversary play, Red, White, and Blaine. As rehearsals start, we learn of the town's history ("the stool capital of the world") including a brush with a UFO. The mockumentary follows the various townsfolk wishing for stardom: Parker Posey as a Dairy Queen clerk, Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard as stage-struck travel agents, Matthew Keeslar as the town's bad boy, and Eugene Levy (who cowrote the film with Guest) as a dentist who dreams of glory on the stage. The film is a hoot from beginning to end, and be sure to watch the closing credits. Fans of Guest's deft dry humor should not miss his other parody of the entertainment world, The Big Picture (Kevin Bacon as a student filmmaker who goes to Hollywood). --Doug Thomas Amazon.com

A must-have for mocumentarians.

Great movie which basically does for community theater what Spinal Tap did to rock and roll.

Not quite as well done as Best in Show or a Mighty Wind, but still a classic. September 14, 2008

Waiting for Guffman

"Waiting for Guffman" is Christopher Guest's hilarious faux documentary about community theater in the small little town of Blaine, Missouri. Guest himself plays Corky St Clair (recently of New York) who brings such classic hits as "Backdraft" to the stage, much to the consternation of the local fire department. Now Blaine wants to direct a production to celebrate its sesquicentennial. Corky makes it into a musical called "Red, White, and Blaine" and casts a motley troupe of local eccentrics much to the chagrin of the high school musical director. The wonderful thing about Christopher Guest's films like this one and Best in Show are the actors he uses, people like Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara, Bob Balaban, Eugene Levy, and Parker Posey. These actors are wonderful; they work together so well; and they make their characters quirky yet lovable!
September 9, 2008

Superb off beat comedy

This is a fine comedy movie from the Spinal Tap people. There are great one liners and a terrific cast. This is a small gem, a wonderful film. August 22, 2008

Masterful and Very Funny

Just to get it out of the way, I've ordered THIS IS SPINAL TAP and I know nothing about BEST IN SHOW.

It's a very fine balancing act, making a fake documentary which isn't farce, which is internally consistent and which could be true, in which every line is delivered "straight," and which is still quite funny. We get the joke because the characters don't. To pull this off requires great writing and great acting.

This film manages that balancing act, and the result is a DVD that I'm glad to own because I'll enjoy it again.

May 9, 2008

Can't stop laughing

If you are a Christopher Guest fan, and you loved Best in Show then you will get a big kick out of this film. My husband and I stumbled across it years ago and we watch it over and over and never fail to throw back our heads laughing.
April 25, 2008

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