Waiting for Guffman

Starring:Lewis Arquette, Bob Balaban, David Cross (II), Paul Dooley, Brian Doyle-Murray, Michael Hitchcock, Linda Kash, Matt Keeslar, Don Lake, Eugene Levy, James McQueen, Larry Miller, Catherine O'Hara, Turk Pipkin, Parker Posey, Deborah Theaker, Jerry Turman, Fred Willard, Scott Williamson
Studio: Turner Home Ent
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

One of the funniest films in many a moon was hiding at art house theaters in 1998. Former Saturday Night Live comedian and Spinal Tap member Christopher Guest creates the ultimate parody of small-town dramatics, Waiting for Guffman. Corky St. Claire (Guest), an overwhelming drama director hiding out in Blaine, Missouri, thinks he has found the vehicle to put him back on Broadway: the city's 150th anniversary play, Red, White, and Blaine. As rehearsals start, we learn of the town's history ("the stool capital of the world") including a brush with a UFO. The mockumentary follows the various townsfolk wishing for stardom: Parker Posey as a Dairy Queen clerk, Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard as stage-struck travel agents, Matthew Keeslar as the town's bad boy, and Eugene Levy (who cowrote the film with Guest) as a dentist who dreams of glory on the stage. The film is a hoot from beginning to end, and be sure to watch the closing credits. Fans of Guest's deft dry humor should not miss his other parody of the entertainment world, The Big Picture (Kevin Bacon as a student filmmaker who goes to Hollywood). --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews:

Absolute Classic Comedy .......2007-05-21

I have probably seen this 15 or 16 times, and every time I watch it I catch another hilarious detail, whether it be a line in the songs that I hadn't noticed before, or a nuance in the performances, or some other detail...every single member of Guest's "troupe" is at their best here. This flick just cracks me up. Corky is one of Guest's most memorable characters ever and the songs about Blaine are a riot. This is in my top 10 comedies of all time, easily, and my favorite of Guest's "mockumentaries."

Stool Boom!!!.......2007-05-12

Seriously one of the best comedies ever made. This film is brilliant. If you have ever done any form of community theatre you will understand why. You have to see it. Probably the best of all the Guest films.

Not their best, but still fun!.......2007-05-08

This isn't as good of quality as IMHO as Best in Show or A Mighty Wind, and of course This Is Spinal Tap, but still fun to watch.

Interesting mockumentary, now I see why.......2007-04-09

I didn't enjoy "For Your Consideration" but I decided to give director Christopher Guest another chance by seeing "Waiting for Guffman." Guest plays as Corky a quirky stage director celebrates his small town's history by putting on a play featuring local residents. Having recruiting a fun cast of SCTV and SNL make this one of the most creative comedies I've seen. It has many funny moments, especially from Corky. 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 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. If you enjoy quirky pictures that can be uneven but also funny, this is your type of movie.

Parody as Art.......2007-03-02

I wrestled with whether "Waiting for Guffman" is caricature, parody, or burlesque. I settled on parody, but really "Guffman" is simply an intelligent, warm, funny film with very strong performances. Granted, to truly enjoy this film, you have to bond to the "mockumentary" format and style. I loved "Best in Show", so it was a real treat to see much of the same cast with different characters.

In my opinion, what makes it all work is the kindness of the film and the sincerity of the performances. The subject matter and setting of this film could encourage a mean-spirited style. The setting is the fictional small town of Blaine, Missouri, but it could be Anywhere, USA. The subject is the staging of a musical celebrating the town's sesquicentennial and using local talent. So, the film could skewer small town folks, and poke mean fun at amateur theatre. But it doesn't, and that's what makes it good.

There are some wonderful individual performances here. My favorite character is the smokin' hot Parker Posey as Libby Mae Brown, a DQ employee cum actress. Her gum-chewing monlogues are great. Then there are the local "stars" of community theatre, Sheila and Ron Albertson. The Robertsons are well played by Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard. Their audition scene (a choreographed rendition of "Midnight at the Oasis") was brilliant. Eugene Levy turns in a charming performance as town dentist, Dr. Pearl, who finds his performer within. Christopher Guest does a good turn as Corky St. Clair, a gay director hidden in the closet, complete with fictional wife. His divo-style temper tantrums show me that he's observed quite a few tempermental artists in his day.

There are many good scenes in this film. The details and touches matter. I liked the work of Bob Balaban (Russell from "Seinfeld") as the conductor and usual director of the pageant, Lloyd Miller. He was aghast at the auditions, he was miffed at being under Corky's direction, he was alarmed at the lack of singing rehearsal. When he stepped in as director after Corky pulled a divo and left the production, he felt vindicated and assertively took charge. The scene where Corky is asking the town council for additional funding is wonderful. Very nice touches were provided by Don Lake as town historian Phil Burgess. He helps us bond to the town by telling us the town history; how Blaine is the stool capital of the world, about the UFO encounter, and the whistlestop visit of President McKinley. This makes us care about the town, and the actors make us care about the people, so naturally, we care about the production that follows.

And what a production it was! The production was called "Red, White, and Blaine", and it covered the history of Blaine, complete with alien (played by a half-blind Dr. Pearl). The tension and excitement backstage is palpable. Part of the tension arises from the anticipated visit of Guffman, who will ostensibly evaluate the suitability of the show for Broadway. The overture to this spectacular, conducted by Balaban's Miller was a lot of fun. Check out the trumpet player doubling as tympanist. There are great audience details; the pride of Dr. Pearl's wife, played by a seriously made up Linda Kash, was touching. The emotional response of Councilman Steve Stark, played by Michael Hitchcock, was genuine. His response was driven by the fact that he couldn't be in the show.

Kudos to Lewis Arquette, Christopher Guest, all the crew, and this wonderful ensemble of actors. It is a piece of work they can all be proud of.

Highly recommended.

Christopher Guest Collection (A Mighty Wind / Best in Show / Waiting for Guffman)

Average customer rating:

You either love it or hate it----and I love it
i've talked about brittish comedy at its best but now here's american comedy at its best
great films, poor packaging
Three great movies, but what's so special about the price?
Fantastic Movies, Terrible Presentation

Christopher Guest Collection (A Mighty Wind / Best in Show / Waiting for Guffman)
Starring: Christopher Guest
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

This Is Spinal Tap (Special Edition)
For Your Consideration
A Mighty Wind: The Album
The Return of Spinal Tap
Christopher Guest 3-Pack (A Mighty Wind / Waiting for Guffman / Best in Show)

ASIN: B0000ALFVF
Release Date: 2003-09-23

Amazon.com

A Mighty Wind
There's A Mighty Wind a-blowin', along with the gales of laughter you'll get from Christopher Guest's third exercise in brilliant "mockumentary." After tackling small-town theatricals in Waiting for Guffman and obsessive dog-show contestants in Best in Show, Guest and his reliable stable of repertory players (including Fred Willard, Parker Posey, and Bob Balaban) apply their improvisational genius to a latter-day reunion of fictional '60s-era folk singers, a comedic goldmine that Guest first explored 30 years earlier on The National Lampoon Radio Hour. Collaborating with costar and cowriter Eugene Levy (who gives the film's funniest performance), Guest is so delicate in his satirical approach that the laughs aren't always obvious, and the subtlety can be as wistful (as in Catherine O'Hara's performance as Levy's auto-harpist partner) as it is hilarious. Some may wish for more blatant comedy, but that would compromise the genuine affection that Guest & Co. have for the music they're spoofing. --Jeff Shannon

Best in Show
Christopher Guest, the man behind Waiting for Guffman, turns his comic eye on another little world that takes itself a bit too seriously: the world of competitive dog shows. Best in Show follows a clutch of dog owners as they prepare and preen their dogs to win a national competition. They include the yuppie pair (Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock) who fear they've traumatized their Weimaraner by having sex in front of him; a suburban husband and wife (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara) with a terrier and a long history of previous lovers on the wife's part; the Southern owner of a bloodhound (Guest himself) with aspirations as a ventriloquist; and many more. Following the same "mockumentary" format of Spinal Tap and Guffman, Best in Show takes in some of the dog show officials, the manager of a nearby hotel that allows dogs to stay there, and the commentators of the competition (a particularly knockout comic turn by Fred Willard as an oafish announcer). The movie manages to paint an affectionate portrait of its quirky characters without ever losing sight of the ridiculousness of their obsessive world. Almost all of the scenes were created through improvisation. While lacking the overall focus of a written script, Best in Show captures hilarious and absurd aspects of human behavior that could never be written down. The movie's success is a testament to both the talent of the actors and Guest's discerning eye. --Bret Fetzer

Waiting for Guffman
One of the funniest films in many a moon was hiding at art house theaters in 1998. Former Saturday Night Live comedian and Spinal Tap member Christopher Guest creates the ultimate parody of small-town dramatics, Waiting for Guffman. Corky St. Claire (Guest), an overwhelming drama director hiding out in Blaine, Missouri, thinks he has found the vehicle to put him back on Broadway: the city's 150th anniversary play, Red, White, and Blaine. As rehearsals start, we learn of the town's history ("the stool capital of the world") including a brush with a UFO. The mockumentary follows the various townsfolk wishing for stardom: Parker Posey as a Dairy Queen clerk, Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard as stage-struck travel agents, Matthew Keeslar as the town's bad boy, and Eugene Levy (who cowrote the film with Guest) as a dentist who dreams of glory on the stage. The film is a hoot from beginning to end, and be sure to watch the closing credits. Fans of Guest's deft dry humor should not miss his other parody of the entertainment world, The Big Picture (Kevin Bacon as a student filmmaker who goes to Hollywood). --Doug Thomas

Description

A MIGHTY WIND: Documentary-style Comedy. Christopher Guest follows up his acclaimed ensemble comedies Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman with a docu-comedy about three folk groups from the 60s who reunite for a memorial concert in New York City following the death of a legendary folk manager. BEST IN SHOW: The tension is palpable, the excitement is mounting and the heady scent of competition is in the air as hundreds of eager contestants from across America prepare to take part in what is undoubtedly one of the greatest events of their lives -- the Mayflower Dog Show. WAITING FOR GUFFMAN: A town of Blaine, Missouri is preparing for celebrations of its 150th anniversary. Corky St.Clair, an off-off-off-off-off-Broadway director is putting together an amateur theater show about the town's history, starring a local dentist, a couple of travel agents, a Dairy Queen waitress, and a car repairman. He invites a Broadway theater critic Mr. Guffman to see the opening night of the show

Customer Reviews:

You either love it or hate it----and I love it.......2007-01-03

I admit to an unexplained fondness for clever parody and satire. These three films by Christopher Guest fall right into my slot. Each highlights a different form of unwarranted self-importance, but rarely crosses the line of easy insults or demeaning caricature. The realism is ----well, very real (although it doesn't go to 11 as in an earlier semi-related film).

All the characters are clearly drawn from real life. Although employing many of the same actors in diverse roles, the films allow each individual improv performer to shine a unique light that fully illuminates the target subjects. My two 20-ish daugthers and I often quote from these films. The biting wit is timeless. Outstanding talent, craftsmanship, and creativity forms the heart of all these stories. Very, very funny stuff.

i've talked about brittish comedy at its best but now here's american comedy at its best.......2006-08-18

great and hillarious!!! a mighty wind, best in show, waiting for guffman...i have watched theses movies countless times and it still shockes me how funny and side splitting these perfectly hillarious movies are!!!

a must get for everyone out there!!!

great films, poor packaging.......2005-02-04

The DVDs are great. They have lots of great extras, including commentary on additional scenes, insightful commentary in general, cast bios, etc. I was disappointed in the packaging -- flimsy cardboard and are smaller than more traditional packages.

I received these as a gift, and I think that as a gift, they are great.

I have watched these films over and over again and enjoy them each time. The acting is incredible and it amazes me that it's improvised -- the actors make it look so easy, which means it must be difficult! In A Mighty Wind, all the actors sing and play their own instruments, with some learning just for this film. Great dedication to their artform.

Three great movies, but what's so special about the price?.......2004-01-12

I'm tempted to dock one star mainly because you'd actually pay LESS buying them separately than in this "special" package. ($14.99 each for Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, $23.76 for Mighty Wind = $53.74). The three-fer costs over $55. What gives? Well, I suppose you save something on shipping.

Regardless, these three films are easily worth the money at either price.

Fantastic Movies, Terrible Presentation.......2004-01-09

Boo, Warner Brothers!!!

You've taken three amazing movies and packaged them terribly.

I was extremely excited to have received this "box set" for Christmas, until I unwrapped it. It's three seperate loose DVDs with no box to tie them all together. And to add insult to injury, all of the DVDs are encased in the old-school type packaging with the cheap cardboard cover and black "snap" latch.

Very disappointing. Warner Brothers SUCKS! They really need to work on how they showcase their work on DVD in the future. They could take a real hint from New Line which always releases their best films with pride and flair.

Customer Reviews:

Best of Guest!!.......2006-08-18

Of Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, "Best in Show" is definitely the best. The characters and story gel in a perfect comic concoction. "Best in Show" is very different than "Waiting for Guffman" (the first film in the Guest trilogy), although it brings back many of the same actors. While Guffman has a cruel streak in it, "Best in Show" is a little kinder to the characters it skewers -- without losing the laughs.

The third film in the trilogy (A Mighty Wind) departs from the formula quite a bit. More of a bittersweet drama, "Wind" is just not that funny.

If you are Jonesing for a mockumentary fix, search for "G-Sale" -- a quirky comedy very much in the Christopher Guest vein. It got a lot of great reviews and was even labeled "the movie Christopher Guest should have made instead of A Mighty Wind."

Mockumentary classics.......2005-01-18

The Christopher Guest mockumentaries are, with half-sibling production "This is Spinal Tap," some of the most unique and hilarious comedies out there. "Waiting for Guffman" and "Mighty Wind" are unalloyed excellence, while "Best in Show" limps in places. But all three are entertaining and enjoyable.

"Waiting for Guffman" introduces us to the quirky but proud town of Blaine Missouri, the Stool Capital of the world and a pre-Roswell UFO landing site. Disillusioned writer Corky St. Claire sees the perfect vehicle to get back to Broadway: The town's anniversary celebration, which will now host a musical called "Red White and Blaine." Among the actors: A dentist who dreams of stardom, a husband-and-wife team, and a Dairy Queen clerk. The stakes are upped when Corky is told that they might end up on Broadway, if Mr. Guffman likes the performance...

Who is "Best in Show"? Hard to say. At a major dog show things start going wrong. Among the contestants: A yuppie couple who think they scarred their dog with their Kama Sutra sex, a rather dull ventriloquist hick with a bloodhound, a bored bubblebrain trophy wife with a poodle, a gay couple, and a guy with two left feet (literally) who is haunted by his wife's colorful past. As they arrive at a hotel for the competition, human neuroses threaten to derail the dogs...

"A Mighty Wind" is blowing through the folk music world. Guest gets himself back on track with this film. The great folk music icon Irving Steinbloom has just passed away, and his son Jonathan wants to pay tribute to his daddy with a special memorial concert. To do that, he calls together various quirky groups (and ex-groups) for one last concert: aging ex-lovers Mitch and Mickey, odd Folksmen, and the color-coordinated "New Main Street Singers." Let the show begin...

"Waiting" is absolutely hysterical, brimming over with quirky jokes and likable weird characters. "Mighty Wind," while not as good as "Guffman," is nevertheless quite engaging and full of giggle moments. Both are affectionate even as they poke fun at their subjects (small towns/musicals and folk music), like the pal who is a goofball even though you like him for his oddities. "Best," however, stumbles a bit. The stereotypes go over the top at times, and jokes become a little repetitive (like the ex-boyfriend-in-every-town joke). It's still amusing, just not up to Guest's usual standards.

Fans of those kooky rockers in "Spinal Tap" will eat up the Christopher Guest collection. Funny, weird, occasionally a little deranged, these three mockumentaries are definitely keepers.

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