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Waiting for Guffman Reviews
Guest’s sharpest comedic moments emerge in the details, with GUFFMAN offering a nuanced character study of the absurd yet familiar dynamics of small-town life and its fleeting glory.
This has long been one of my absolute favorite movies. I started to watch Theater Camp tonight, and was instantly reminded of Guffman. Turned off Theater Camp (for now, I'll come back to watch) and am now sitting here crying laughing watching Waiting for Guffman. I'm sorry....the ENTIRE MOVIE....Blaine Faban convinced the settlers they had made it to California, of course they couldn't see the ocean, because they were in Missouri. "I can relate to how it feels to be a Kennedy." "The circumference and the diameter remain the same." Always 67degress with a 40% chance of rain. No I wasn't the class clown, but I sat beside him, and I studied him
Funny performances elevate this silly mockumentary. Director Christopher Guest's mockumentary comedy Waiting for Guffman (1996) is often funny and upbeat, but never quite hilarious enough to make you laugh out loud. Guest's direction nails the goofy, handheld mockumentary genre like Rob Reiner's This Is Spinal Tap. I enjoyed it enough and appreciate that it was mercifully 84 minutes. Cinematographer Roberto Schaefer moving the camera around like he's interviewing people is funny. However it is editor Andy Blumenthal's sharp cutting that gives Waiting for Guffman humorous comedic timing. Someone will reference something that cannot happen, then Blumenthal cuts to just that occurring for a laugh. Guest's direction could have added in a few more jokes without so much improvised dialogue from Guest and Eugene Levy's script. It's very clever at times, but you can tell they were often winging it through scenes with stuttering dialogue. Christopher Guest's flamboyant and incompetent playwright Corky St. Clair is a great example of cringe comedy. Guest's acting is quite fun, but not nearly as funny as his supporting cast. Eugene Levy is another excellent portrayal of cringe comedy with his awkward dentist Dr. Allan Pearl trying to sing and dance like a middle aged man would. Fred Willard's overly excited travel agent Ron Albertson makes me chuckle with his every line delivery. Catherine O'Hara's exaggerated acting as Sheila Albertson is pleasant. I actually laughed the most at her hair constantly sticking up. Parker Posey steals the show as the depressed Dairy Queen employee girl Libby Mae Brown, who dreams of stardom. She feels just like real small town girls I've known who wished for better. Posey's line delivery is actually hilarious with her excited bad singing and wild dancing gestures. Posey looks like she had a blast filming Waiting for Guffman. Christopher Guest could have given her a larger role here to enhance the humor. Lewis Arquette is pretty charming as the gripping narrator of the play named Clifford Wooley. Bob Balaban's disbelieving music teacher Lloyd Miller is very funny. His expressions of disapproval at Corky's antics are a riot. Matt Keeslar's car mechanic Johnny Savage is fairly fun, but Brian Doyle-Murray's cameo as Red Savage in that scene is even funnier. Michael Hitchcock's Steve Stark and Larry Miller's Mayor Glenn Welsch are pretty great as the cheap councilmen of Blaine. David Cross gets a quick cameo as UFO Expert in a farm field that should have been longer. Linda Kash is amusing as the supportive Mrs. Pearl. Paul Dooley's UFO abductee has a wonderful monologue. Andrea Ariel's dance choreography is fun in how pathetic and inept it looks. This Is Spinal Tap composers Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest, and Michael McKean create actually clever and silly songs for Corky's awful play production. Costume designers Julie Carnahan and David W. King give everyone hideous, colorful outfits for Waiting for Guffman, except Parker gets cute costumes. Makeup artist Kate Shorter ensures everyone looks as terrible as possible, except Parker Posey looks gorgeous with lush vibrant eyeshadow and lipstick. Kelly Nelson's hairstyling sticks Catherine O'Hara's hair all the way up in front hilariously. I loved her flowing hairstyle for Parker Posey's LIbby. In all, Waiting for Guffman is vaguely funny, but could have been hilarious.
An absolute classic. I rarely watch films more than once...but I bet I've seen Guffman 20 times. It never gets old...
"I'm trying to get ... it's very rare ... the action figures for Das Boot." You can always tell a Christopher Guest mockumentary in the first few minutes because of the improvisational way he treats his dialogue; it gives this flustered authenticity to the conversation, which tends to bypass traditional scriptwriting in favor of this spur-of-the-moment wordplay that allows the characters to grow naturally. At the opposite end, it's tough to create full musical numbers spontaneously, and the music team delivers these high-energy pieces that play off of the rest of the film's deadpan energy very well. In plot, it was probably a bit of a balancing act developing Waiting for Guffman, parodying small-town America without coming off as cruel or dismissive, but the intention doesn't seem to be to make people out as small-town hicks, but to celebrate the out-of-the-way places in an unorthodox way. It certainly helps with the raft of comedic talent on hand, Eugene Levy, Guest himself, and particularly the duo of Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard. Even Bob Odenkirk shows up in a minor role. Now where to buy those My Dinner With Andre action figures or the Remains of the Day lunchboxes... (3.5/5)
The charm wears off quick. Repetitive and boring.
Five stars because it's reminds me of the community theater in my town -- and my high school that listed Cathy Evelyn Smith (yes, the one who killed John Belushi) as a famous alum alongside Jim Carrey at one of our reunions. These people exist. Usually in Canada.
Some delightful bits and comedy in this one, chock full of film/theater reference. A wonderful cast where every character gets their shine and chances to be funny.
Guest is a comedic genuis.
Yet another wildly entertaining mockumentary from Christopher Guest, Waiting for Guffman tells the story of Corky St Clair, a former Broadway actor who has relocated to Blaine, Missouri. In order to celebrate the city's 150th anniversary, Corky decides to produce a play celebrating memorable moments in Blaine's history, including the 1946 Martian encounter. Most of Guest's regular stable of actors are along for the ride, including Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Fred Willard and Parker Posey. The characters, all of whom are trying to escape their humdrum lives with dreams of appearing on Broadway, are sharply defined and endearing in their own ways. The dialogue, as one would guess with any Guest production, is clever and slyly humorous. This is a great introduction for anyone not familiar with the concept of the mockumentary.
Oh my god this movie is hilarious.
an underrated christopher guest gem, s/o to Eugene Levy & Catherine O'Hara for giving us more content to enjoy together (with additional great performances from Guest, Willard, Balaban & Posey). this makes me want to join a community theater production even though like these characters i have no talent lol
Really fun parody with some great bits.
Maybe it's just my history with the theater community, but Waiting for Guffman really resonates with me. Christopher Guest as Corky St. Clair is the shining star in this number, but the entire cast is amazing, as each character is so earnest, yet so clueless. It's also very impressive how an improvised script can create such quotable moments. For me, this mockumentary is a Zen thing, like how many babies fit in a tire…
Nobody could embody lovable heartland numbskulls better than Fred Willard, the absolute king of provincial American duncedom.
As a fan of the improvised mockumentary style (i.e. Spinal Tap) and a theater nerd, I was really looking forward to finally watching this movie. And while it definitely delivered, I feel that it was less complete than other Christopher Guest movies, and that was kind of disappointing. The story is rather simple, a small theater group is working on a new show. They soon find that a New York Broadway representative is going to come to see the show opening night. What follows is a really wacky, fun, and (personally) an all too real experience. The improvised style works, and the character acting is really fun. However, this one just kind of missed what made the other ones as good as they were. I feel that too much of the film wasted opportunities for better options in the story. Which, I understand that this is due to the improvised nature, but it was disappointing nevertheless. And that's really it from me. The movie is an extreme blast, and if you can, definitely go out and watch it. However, if you go into it with high expectations, you might be slightly disappointing. 8.7/10
One of my all time favorite comedies. Its purposefully ridiculous and I laugh it every time I see it. No joke, I've seen it at least 25 times. "I guess I could go back to the Dairy Queen (shrug) they said they'd take me back, I always have a place at the Dairy Queen" as Parker Posey fans a raw chicken wing on a cold grill.