Waiting for Guffman [DVD]

Pants on backwards hilarious 👖

That's the ratio of 5-star reviews to 1-star reviews. I can't really understand either rating. The 1-star reviews chiefly moan that the 'humor is too dumb' for their intellectual appreciation, an unconvincing protestation given their syntax and spelling. Many of the 5-stars seem to be written by cult fans of Christopher Guest, the author, director and star of the film. I'm shamed to confess that I'd never heard of Mr. Guest before. "Waiting for Guffman" was vociferously recommended to me by the one of my friends who watches the most films and whose taste has usually matched mine closely. So I bought; it was cheaper than renting it. And eventually I watched it ...... and it was amusing, not hilarious by any means, and original, but hardly a 'keeper' for my shelves. I'll probably lend it to someone and forget who. It's a lot like "Napoleon Dynamite" for the middle-aged, but not nearly as funny. To describe it as "madcap" -- as the DVD box cover does -- is completely misleading. "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou" was madcap; "Waiting for Guffman" is cautiously silly and mild-mannered in its satire of "small town America." Make that "Southern America" if you will; the setting is a burg called Blaine, Missouri, and from a Minnesota small-town perspective, Missouri is The South. People in Blaine are not especially sophisticated or cosmopolitan. In fact, the town travel agent has never been outside Blaine except for a peculiar surgery in another Missouri town. The prosperous Jewish dentist of Blaine is decidedly not in touch with international Jewry; in fact, he's hardly in touch with anyone except his wife. One wonders how on earth he sprang into existence in such isolation, like a solitary spore transported there by the wind. The whole humor of this film is constructed on the mocking condescension an urban audience will feel entitled to hold toward these absurd rubes. I doubt that this film is well received by the sorts of people it depicts. Yet the depiction is brilliantly accurate, for the most part, and not unfair. Why, it's almost loving! These plain folk may be utterly unrealistic about their "talent" yet they appreciate each other. For a cinematic change, their flaws are not bigotry and narrow-mindedness but rather provincial self-importance and mediocrity.The redeeming virtue of this semi-madcap movie is the artistry of the city-slicker actors in capturing the physical affect and verbal awkwardness of the various characters. The best moments come when the good folk of Blaine speak directly to the camera. One needs a bit of patience to enjoy this film; it's all vignettes, lashed together by a double-dumb plot within a plot, the presentation of a musical pageant honoring and depicting the 150-year history of the town itself. Director/writer Guest plays the role of Corky, a closeted gay scion of Blaine who has given up hope of success in the Big City and returned home to sulk. Veteran actor Eugene Levy is painfully 'real' as the Jewish dentist. Parker Posey is awkwardly cute and coy as the pretty girl from the local Dairy Queen, whose real ambition is to invent a better ice cream sundae. Oh yes, the acting is very skillful! but the film as a whole is slower than a Sunday pot roast.

I remember very well Corky St. Clair's first appearance on "Saturday Night Live" in the late eighties when he was providing ballet lessons to Martin Short and Harry Shearer, who were playing brothers training to be the first male synchronized swimming team to enter the Olympics. Christopher Guest has resuscitated his character, a rather effete and somewhat flamboyant choreographer/stage director, for this monumentally funny 1997 satire on small-town theatre productions. As the master of his own film genre, the mockumentary, Guest brings his keen observational skills to a first-person interview movie, pre-dating the current glut of reality shows and capturing that strangely compelling feeling when life starts to feel more real when it's lived on-camera. Along with co-star Eugene Levy, he has written a surprisingly revealing character study of a group of people living predictable existences in the mythical town of Blaine, Missouri, the stool capital of the world. Thanks to Corky's skewed eye for raw talent and his infectious ambition, they are chosen for a musical history pageant about the town, "Red, White and Blaine", and slowly start to harbor dreams of stardom. The title refers to an influential New York theater critic that Guest is hoping will come and see the show, so they can all make it to Broadway. Far-fetched? You bet.Guest has assembled a cast of brilliant comic actors to bring these rural, red-state characters to life. Levy plays enthusiastic newcomer, Dr. Allan Pearl, a tone-deaf dentist with coke-bottle glasses, who quickly comes out of his self-imposed shell with his stage debut. He captures all the pride and humiliation of his character with an untimely knack for borscht-belt-style humor. Indie-film princess Parker Posey portrays Libby Mae Brown, a Dairy Queen counter girl who wins her role by performing a saucy version of Doris Day's "Teacher's Pet". She especially shines when she talks about her idea of low-calorie "blizzards" or about "meeting guys" in New York. As Ron and Sheila Albertson, the showbiz-savvy couple who run a local travel agency, Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara bring their familiar brio to two souls that have an unsuspecting dark side. In particular, in the midst of exposing Ron's penile reduction surgery to the Pearls, O'Hara has a drunken scene in a Chinese restaurant that is as devastating as it is hilarious. There are lots of wonderful actors in smaller roles like Larry Miller as the clueless mayor; Bob Balaban as the put-upon music teacher at creative odds with Corky; and Michael Hitchcock as a Streisand-loving town council member dying to be in the show. Guest himself manages to transcend the obvious stereotype of his character by injecting an oddly affecting warmth that makes Corky ironically empathetic to the viewer, especially as his dreams seem to slip away near the end. But the humor is never lost, and the coda, where Corky shows off his movie memorabilia in his novelty store, is hysterical.The movie is only 84 minutes, so the DVD contains loads of deleted scenes - a couple of interesting scenes that show the darker elements behind the Albertsons' hapless façade; Libby using some anachronistic Actors' Studio-like Method techniques in her audition; an extended production number called "Bulging River" which actually shows off the musical talents of the cast; and a meandering driving scene that shows Corky telling each of the cast that they won parts in his show. This movie is a complete delight worthy of repeat viewings.

I love it

Waiting for Guffman is probably my favorite Christopher Guest film. Beyond the expected fun that his tongue-in-cheek documentary style brings, there's the pure genius of the cast working both individually and ensemble. Most of the same players show up in other gems like Best in Show and A Mighty Wind but Waiting for Guffman is where they're at their best. And don't tell anyone but I really liked Red, White and Blaine as a musical. I'd love to see some small town theater actually produce this someday. A classic that's just a delight to watch over and over again.

This is a funny and clever film the first one or two times watched. Thereafter, it doesn't much appeal any more. However, if you have never seen this film, do yourself a favor and rent it!

This doesn’t hold up as well as BEST IN SHOW, but anyone who has been involved with community theater needs to see this. The cast features Christopher Guest stalwarts Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Fred Willard, Parker Posey,and many more. Parker Posey’s monologue audition for the play, which didn’t make it into the final cut of the film but is included in the extras, is worth the purchase price. Also really cool are the dark endings that were likewise excluded from the final cut. And Eugene Levy makes comedy look effortless. This is a winner.Everybody dance!

Wish Christopher Guest would get back in the saddle with filmmaking! How many times can we watch your past perfection?

None of Christopher Guest's other efforts lived up to 'Best in Show'--how could they? But Guffman, like the Mighty Wind , (Home for Purim much less) gives much of the feel, tho not much humor, of Best in Show. About ten of the players from the other two movies are in this, which helps, especially the funniest of his regular crew, Fred Willard and Eugene Levy. The incompetence of the 'Singers' trying out for the 'Musical'--such as it is---will bring back memories to anyone who has ever been in amateur plays, musicals, Operettas, etc., be they High School, College or other local groups . I was in a ton of those, tho never with anyone like this, but saw some auditions that still are hard to forget, tho I'd like to. A big feature of Christopher Guest movies is that, no matter how silly the characters are, there is still a sense of love and respect for them--like Laurel and Hardy--you still care for them.

More from the Director Christopher Guest and his talented Team of Thesps.I am a huge fan of these films, and it is a good film- but Guest and Co can soar far above this effort into the realms of genius.Not to disparage 'Waiting for Guffman', by any means, but this is a vein that has yet to be fully mined. More subtle than the Austrailian/Anglo film "Razzle Dazzle", this film presents a slice of life based around the hopes fears and talents of a bunch of amateur actors, compounded by the expectation of the arrival of the mighty Guffman.The players in this film however are too nice, too normal and too insightful and have too mach talent in comparision to some of the am dram players it I have encountered. As a microcosim, this field (in the UK) provides a niche of prima donnas and ruthlessness that goes way beyond anything encountered here. Guest and Crew are fabulous at creating work that resonates with truth- and here presents a world that is actually fairly sweet and whimsical, with a very slight plot. Its still streets ahead of so many movies I see; I do not intend this to sound disparaging by any means. it is a keeper all the same.

This was a real disappointment. I'm a huge fan of Spinal Tap and enjoyed A Mighty Wind but this was poor in comparison. Admittedly it had a few laugh out loud moments and a couple of memorable routines, but quite a few of the jokes fall flat and the whole thing just feels like it misses the target slightly.

A splendid film, never smug, superior or laughing AT the characters. Even in this badly cropped, zoomed in edition of the movie there is so much to enjoy.It deserves a release with extras and in original aspect ratio!See 'A Mighty Wind' for how this should be done, and the difference it makes.Please note: Since I originally wrote this review the film has been re-released on Blu-ray in its original aspect ratio.

Is a Xmas present