In what begin Christopher Guest's unofficial mockumentary trilogy (to be followed by "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind"),the small town of Blaine, Missouri, puts on a hokey play about the history of their town, hoping that an agent will come and make them famous. "Waiting for Guffman" overall shows that life is what one makes it; no one is going to change it for us.
Of course, in the process of showing this, they come up with some pretty funny stuff. We get to know the characters and their quirks (and believe you me, there are some whacked out quirks). Guest assembles his usual co-stars Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara, but there's also Larry Miller, Fred Willard, Parker Posey, and Bob Balaban. A really neat movie.
Waiting for Guffman
1996
Action / Comedy
Waiting for Guffman
1996
Action / Comedy
Plot summary
The residents of Blaine, Missouri - the self-proclaimed home of the first UFO landing in the United States (Blaine residents beg to differ with Roswell's claims) and stool capital of the world - are excited about the town's upcoming sesquicentennial celebrations, which will have as its centerpiece the original musical production, "Red, White and Blaine". Assisted by high school music teacher Lloyd Miller, Corky St. Clair, the musical's writer/composer and former New York theater professional (off off off off Broadway) who currently leads the Blaine Community Players, will helm the production. Corky and Lloyd are excited about their 'talented' cast of locals and the production as a whole, Corky and Lloyd who themselves are as untalented and unaware as their cast. Corky and company are especially anticipating the presence of Mort Guffman in the audience on opening night, he a representative of the prestigious New York based Oppenheimer Organization. In Corky's mind, a favorable review from Guffman means that the production is heading to Broadway. Through all the ups and downs and more downs of the pre-production, everyone in Blaine still can't wait for opening night and the arrival of Guffman, upon who the cast and crew's dreams rest.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Bob Odenkirk as Caped Man at Auditions
Parker Posey as Libby Mae Brown
Catherine O'Hara as Sheila Albertson
David Cross as UFO Expert
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 715.4 MB
1280*714
English 2.0
R
Movie Reviews
Reviewed by
Parts of life are just plain existentially hokey.
Reviewed by
Wonderful improvisational comedy
It's the sesquicentennial celebration for the small town of Blaine, Missouri. Former New Yorker Corky St.Clair (Christopher Guest) is putting on an amateur theater production of the town history using the wacky locals as the cast. Then Corky tells them about a Broadway theater critic Mort Guffman who is coming to see the opening of the show and jumps to the possibility of the show going to Broadway. Everybody starts dreaming big.
After Spinal Tap, Christopher Guest finally produce something just as funny in the improvisational genre. He has gathered around him an overwhelming comedic cast. The town folks are all horrible actors but I fall for them because they are just so sincere. There is a lovable charm about them. It's not about big slapstick gags. They do get some big laughs although different people will laugh at different things. It's about the actors finding humor in their characters' humanity and oddity.
Reviewed by
The Forgotten One?
An aspiring director (Christopher Guest) 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.
Despite the incredibly cast (especially Parker Posey),this is not a film people usually talk about. In the same vein and from some of the same people, you hear a lot about "Spinal tap" and to a lesser extent "Best in Show". How did this one quietly fade away? I guess Meryl Streep loves it, so that's good.
This film seems like the precursor to "Parks and Rec". Not the first fake documentary, but the focus on a small town and its inhabitants seems familiar. Even more than "The Office", this seems to have the elements that made "Parks and Rec" great.