Waiting For Guffman
Cast
Deborah Theaker as Gwen Fabin-Blunt, Councilwoman
Michael Hitchcock as Steve Stark, Councilman
Scott Williamson as Tucker Livingston, Councilman
Larry Miller as Glenn Welsch, Mayor
Don Lake as Phil Burgess, Blaine Historian
Directed by
Christopher Guest
Rater #2 has description and Review
Rater #1
Has not seen movie
Rater #2
8/10. Christopher Guest's second mockumentary (and first he directed) is
Waiting for Guffman, a very funny trip to Blaine, Missouri. It will
most likely be compared more to Spinal Tap than Best in Show or A
Mighty Wind because it was the first one. It has all most of Guest's
posse including Michael Hitchcock, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara,
Parker Posey, Eugene Levy, and Bob Balaban. However, Harry Shearer
and Michael McKean are nowhere to be seen.
Guest is Corky St. Clair. He's a stage director who is hired to
produce Blaine's sesquicentennial musical, "Red, White, and Blaine".
Some of his previous works include "Backdraft: The Musical". The
theater burned down. The townspeople try out for the musical. They're
horrible. Some include Dr. Allan Pearl (Levy), one of the only Jewish
people in town, Ron and Sheila Albertson (Willard and O'Hara), and
Libby Mae Brown (Posey), who enjoys her job at the local Dairy Queen.
They all have to learn their roles with the demanding Corky, and the
whole thing is shot in documentary form.
First things first: if you don't like documentaries, you won't like
this picture. Although it isn't true, the whole movie is very talky
and doesn't have any action. If you enjoy quirky pictures that can be
uneven but also funny, this is your type of movie. It has many funny
moments, especially from Corky ("You people�are�bastard people!"). At
times, I'm sure what the actors had to go through was embarrassing,
especially when Willard and O'Hara were doing their duet. A way that
that was put into perspective for me was when our school put on a
performance of "Bye Bye Birdie", and the person who played Gloria
Rasputin, a glitzy dancer who is not very good, commented how
embarrassing it was to be bad.
The photography was amateurish, especially in the beginning, but that
gave it a more authentic feel to the documentary-type it is. However,
if this is all supposed to be a documentary, then there are a few
shots that don't seem right. The townspeople are knocking on Corky's
door, and then we see Corky sitting in the bathtub. Also, right after
scene was done in the musical; we follow the actors going backstage.
If the camera was just in the audience, how can it get on stage?
Much of the dialogue was obviously improvised, and it tells. Whenever
someone just got a whiff, they went on to talk about whatever, and
it's often very funny. Some of the deleted scenes on the DVD are just
improv, especially from Fred Willard, who is just hilarious.
Something that makes this different from other movies is that there
is no background music, because this is supposed to be a documentary.
It really put more of an authentic feel. Another point that I loved
is the combination of a regular movie and an ensemble movie. Instead
of having some well-developed characters or no characters to care
about, Guest put in deep characters, that have back-stories that we
actually care about, and it's amazing that he can put all of it in in
80 minutes. Waiting for Guffman is a very funny piece that isn't as
much about the bad actors but the interesting story that goes on
behind the scenes.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #5
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rated R for brief strong language.
Running time: 84 minutes
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