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Waiting for Guffman | Year: 1997 Classification: Comedy Actors/Actresses: - Christopher Guest - Matt Keeslar - Catherine O Hara - Parker Posey Best In Show Plus Rocky Horror Equals Guffman Waiting for Guffman is another wonderful mockumentary from actor/director Christopher Guest (Spinal Tap, Best in Show) and cowriter/partner in crime Eugene Levy. The film highlights the big dreams and raw (very raw) talent of the five stars of 'Red, White and Blaine,' the celebratory musical commemorating Blaine, Missouri's 150th anniversary. The humor in Guffman is of the cut-above variety, founded on relationships and underlined by the characters' hopes. Guest plays Corky St. Clair, a refugee from Broadway who has found a niche for his special abilities as the de facto King of Theater in Blaine. Levy plays the town dentist who is auditioning for the very first time. Parker Posey is the perky, poignant and perhaps pathetic ingenue who works at the Dairy Queen. Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard prove the maxim that matching sweatsuits betray an unhappy marriage. Bob Balaban plays Lloyd Miller the music director who is grounded in reality, although his suggestion that the cast might spend some of the rehearsal time actually practicing the songs and dances is met with hostility. As an ex-theater major from Hays, Kansas I found the characters 100;eal even while laughing at the absurdity of their belief in the possibility that they might take their show to Broadway. The musical itself would make a great cult movie in the vein of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The events commemorated include the settling of Blaine (in which a wagon train leader manages to convince an entire group of people that they've already reached California), the famous UFO sighting and alien encounter, and the founding of the stool-making business which drove Blaine's economy for generations. The DVD is worth seeing just for the extra features. The commentary by Guest and Levy is more informative than funny. I got the impression that they were distracted from the commentary by the brilliance of certain scenes in the movie. The extra scenes, however, were hilarious. Waiting for Guffman was shot from a bare-bones script and the actors were encouraged to improvise most of the dialogue. From over 60 hours of footage the best scenes were selected: three of the original scenes that didn't get into the musical, an alternate ending for O'Hara and Willard, scenes with characters that never made it into the movie, and an explanation for why the dentist's wife has a Wisconsin accent. "Is it karma? - Maybe." This is what director 'Corky St Claire' has the NERVE to say, congratulating himself on the progress of his self-penned show, 'Red, White and Blaine'. This 'mockumentary' is THE FUNNIEST MOVIE I'VE EVER SEEN! It has it's own 'groove', and once you get onto the Guffman wave-length, you soon become an addict! Christopher Guest delivers his finest performance ever as small town Blaine's resident 'creative type', a tubby, autocratic drama teacher with 'off-off Broadway' experience. The fictional town of Blaine is so 'small town' that the fact that Corky is obviously gay never enters their thoughts; he's 'creative' (and 'from New York'!) The supporting cast, however, are in danger of stealing the movie from under his feet! Parker Posey is pathetically delightful as 'Libby Mae', a Dairy Queen employee who dreams of hitting Broadway so she can "meet Italian guys". Also praisworthy are the characters of "Ron" and "Sheila", a married couple of zero-talents who "Corky" dubbs 'The Lunts of Blaine'. Yet the real prize has to go to Eugene Levy as "Dr Pearl", the local dentist who lands a starring role in 'Red, White and Blaine'. "Dr Pearl" fancies himself as a comedian ("At family functions, I love breaking people up.") and Levy SOMEHOW manages to be hilariously funny playing a character who TRIES to be funny - and ISN'T! Anyone who has ever been involved with local theatre on any level whatsoever will ADORE this movie! Not only does it take a playful stab at Middle America, it ALSO pokes fun at the documentary genre itself (those tense close-ups, those hand-held cameras!) The cleverest, most intelligent comedy in years - 'Waiting for Guffman' has become a cult movie, and quite rightly! After years, and years of clinical research. I have determined that this is funniest movie of all time. If you don't agree with me, or even worse, if you don't Buy Waiting For Guffman at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Waiting For Guffman Search with the Priority Search Engine on Waiting For Guffman This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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