Waiting for Guffman (1996)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Christopher Guest

Writers (WGA):

Christopher Guest (written by) &
Eugene Levy (written by)

Release Date:

31 January 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

There's A Good Reason Some Talent Remains Undiscovered

Plot:

An aspiring director and the marginally-talented amateur cast of a hokey small-town Missouri musical production go overboard when they learn that someone from Broadway will be in attendance.

Plot Keywords:

Missouri | Small Town | Amateur Theater | Dairy Queen | Dentist

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Deborah Theaker	...	Gwen Fabin-Blunt, Councilwoman
Michael Hitchcock	...	Steve Stark, Councilman
Scott Williamson	...	Tucker Livingston, Councilman
Larry Miller	...	Glenn Welsch, Mayor
Don Lake	...	Phil Burgess, Blaine Historian
Christopher Guest	...	Corky St. Clair
Fred Willard	...	Ron Albertson
Catherine O'Hara	...	Sheila Albertson
Parker Posey	...	Libby Mae Brown
David Cross	...	UFO Expert
Eugene Levy	...	Dr. Allan Pearl
James McQueen	...	Singing Auditioner (as Jim McQueen)
Turk Pipkin	...	Ping Pong Ball Juggler
Jerry Turman	...	Raging Bull Auditioner
Bob Balaban	...	Lloyd Miller

Also Known As:

The Christopher Guest Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for brief strong language.

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | SDDS

Certification:

UK:15 | Australia:M | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | USA:TV-14 (cable rating) | Canada:14A | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

All Night Productions

Trivia:

When demonstrating his "Cockney accent", Christopher Guest quotes a song from This Is Spinal Tap (1984) ("Don't want to live in this 'ell 'ole"), which Guest starred in.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the last scene in the play, a tuba can clearly be heard playing, but there is no tuba in the orchestra.

Quotes:

Glenn Welsch: Blaine is the stool capital of the world.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (#9.12)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Covered Wagons, Open-Toed Shoes

Why did I wait so long?

I'm not sure why I waited to so long to see this film as I've known about it for quite some time now, but it was purely delightful. I spent the weekend catching up on my Christopher Guest films, and watched `A Mighty Wind' then `Best in Show' and saved Guffman for last. While I still thought `A Mighty Wind' was better, (in the same way that Sprite is better than 7-Up… there's really no difference, just maybe an iota of something indescribable that is better) `Waiting for Guffman' is still huddled in there with `Best in Show' as a fantastic film.

One thing that I noticed about `Guffman' over the others is that while all of his films have a little heart to them, this film had just a little bit more. I can also see that Guest, while having more of an acting role in this film, went on to lessen his roles substantially, but he really is a good actor. All of the actors show immense versatility, (especially Catherine O'Hara, whose hair in this film made me laugh constantly) but Guest actually surprised me. The fact that the films are primarily ad-libbed is most impressive in `Guffman' in my opinion, and the direction, while very subtle in all of the films, does not rely on editing to lead (or sometimes, create) a gag as much as his later films do.

All of Guest's films are fairly short (clocking in at 90 minutes or less) so I would suggest that if you haven't seen any or all of his mockumentaries, to just schedule a film festival with some friends and watch them in order. It's fun to compare them, and to watch the same actors take on different personas, and `Waiting for Guffman' is a strong and hilarious piece of work.

--Shelly