Waiting for Guffman

R

Now Playing

1 hr. 24 min.

Comedy

List

91%

55 Reviews

Tomatometer

91%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

When the town of Blaine, Mo., approaches its sesquicentennial, there's only one way to celebrate: with a musical revue called "Red, White and Blaine." Hoping the show will be his ticket back to Broadway, impresario Corky St. Clair (Christopher Guest) rounds up a cast of enthusiastic but untalented locals (Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara) to perform his masterwork. But, when Corky reveals that theater agent Mort Guffman will attend the opening, things really kick into high gear.

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Critics Consensus

This riotously deadpan mockumentary about aspiring community theater performers never stoops to ridicule oft-ridiculous characters.

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Debra S

This has long been one of my absolute favorite movies. I started to watch Theater Camp tonight, and was instantly reminded of Guffman. Turned off Theater Camp (for now, I'll come back to watch) and am now sitting here crying laughing watching Waiting for Guffman. I'm sorry....the ENTIRE MOVIE....Blaine Faban convinced the settlers they had made it to California, of course they couldn't see the ocean, because they were in Missouri. "I can relate to how it feels to be a Kennedy." "The circumference and the diameter remain the same." Always 67degress with a 40% chance of rain. No I wasn't the class clown, but I sat beside him, and I studied him

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/18/23

Full Review

Matthew D

Funny performances elevate this silly mockumentary. Director Christopher Guest's mockumentary comedy Waiting for Guffman (1996) is often funny and upbeat, but never quite hilarious enough to make you laugh out loud. Guest's direction nails the goofy, handheld mockumentary genre like Rob Reiner's This Is Spinal Tap. I enjoyed it enough and appreciate that it was mercifully 84 minutes. Cinematographer Roberto Schaefer moving the camera around like he's interviewing people is funny. However it is editor Andy Blumenthal's sharp cutting that gives Waiting for Guffman humorous comedic timing. Someone will reference something that cannot happen, then Blumenthal cuts to just that occurring for a laugh. Guest's direction could have added in a few more jokes without so much improvised dialogue from Guest and Eugene Levy's script. It's very clever at times, but you can tell they were often winging it through scenes with stuttering dialogue. Christopher Guest's flamboyant and incompetent playwright Corky St. Clair is a great example of cringe comedy. Guest's acting is quite fun, but not nearly as funny as his supporting cast. Eugene Levy is another excellent portrayal of cringe comedy with his awkward dentist Dr. Allan Pearl trying to sing and dance like a middle aged man would. Fred Willard's overly excited travel agent Ron Albertson makes me chuckle with his every line delivery. Catherine O'Hara's exaggerated acting as Sheila Albertson is pleasant. I actually laughed the most at her hair constantly sticking up. Parker Posey steals the show as the depressed Dairy Queen employee girl Libby Mae Brown, who dreams of stardom. She feels just like real small town girls I've known who wished for better. Posey's line delivery is actually hilarious with her excited bad singing and wild dancing gestures. Posey looks like she had a blast filming Waiting for Guffman. Christopher Guest could have given her a larger role here to enhance the humor. Lewis Arquette is pretty charming as the gripping narrator of the play named Clifford Wooley. Bob Balaban's disbelieving music teacher Lloyd Miller is very funny. His expressions of disapproval at Corky's antics are a riot. Matt Keeslar's car mechanic Johnny Savage is fairly fun, but Brian Doyle-Murray's cameo as Red Savage in that scene is even funnier. Michael Hitchcock's Steve Stark and Larry Miller's Mayor Glenn Welsch are pretty great as the cheap councilmen of Blaine. David Cross gets a quick cameo as UFO Expert in a farm field that should have been longer. Linda Kash is amusing as the supportive Mrs. Pearl. Paul Dooley's UFO abductee has a wonderful monologue. Andrea Ariel's dance choreography is fun in how pathetic and inept it looks. This Is Spinal Tap composers Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest, and Michael McKean create actually clever and silly songs for Corky's awful play production. Costume designers Julie Carnahan and David W. King give everyone hideous, colorful outfits for Waiting for Guffman, except Parker gets cute costumes. Makeup artist Kate Shorter ensures everyone looks as terrible as possible, except Parker Posey looks gorgeous with lush vibrant eyeshadow and lipstick. Kelly Nelson's hairstyling sticks Catherine O'Hara's hair all the way up in front hilariously. I loved her flowing hairstyle for Parker Posey's LIbby. In all, Waiting for Guffman is vaguely funny, but could have been hilarious.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/06/23

Full Review

Lori H

An absolute classic. I rarely watch films more than once...but I bet I've seen Guffman 20 times. It never gets old...

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/03/23

Full Review

Taylor L

"I'm trying to get ... it's very rare ... the action figures for Das Boot." You can always tell a Christopher Guest mockumentary in the first few minutes because of the improvisational way he treats his dialogue; it gives this flustered authenticity to the conversation, which tends to bypass traditional scriptwriting in favor of this spur-of-the-moment wordplay that allows the characters to grow naturally. At the opposite end, it's tough to create full musical numbers spontaneously, and the music team delivers these high-energy pieces that play off of the rest of the film's deadpan energy very well. In plot, it was probably a bit of a balancing act developing Waiting for Guffman, parodying small-town America without coming off as cruel or dismissive, but the intention doesn't seem to be to make people out as small-town hicks, but to celebrate the out-of-the-way places in an unorthodox way. It certainly helps with the raft of comedic talent on hand, Eugene Levy, Guest himself, and particularly the duo of Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard. Even Bob Odenkirk shows up in a minor role. Now where to buy those My Dinner With Andre action figures or the Remains of the Day lunchboxes... (3.5/5)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/01/22

Full Review

ty r

The charm wears off quick. Repetitive and boring.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Diane B

Five stars because it's reminds me of the community theater in my town -- and my high school that listed Cathy Evelyn Smith (yes, the one who killed John Belushi) as a famous alum alongside Jim Carrey at one of our reunions. These people exist. Usually in Canada.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/13/22

Full Review

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Christopher Guest

Director

Christopher Guest

Corky St. Clair

Eugene Levy

Dr. Allan Pearl

Fred Willard

Ron Albertson

Catherine O'Hara

Sheila Albertson

Parker Posey

Libby Mae Brown

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Neil Jeffries

Empire Magazine

The songs (co-written by Guest and Tapster Harry Shearer) are suitably ridiculous and the deadpan gags come thick, fast and too numerous to mention, all delivered with knuckle-gnawing subtlety by the C-list cast with A-list style.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 12, 2008

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

This 1997 comedy may be amusing if you feel a pressing need to feel superior to somebody, but the aim is too broad and scattershot to add up to much beyond an acknowledgment of small-town desperation.

Aug 12, 2008

Full Review

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

A madcap gem.

Rated: A

Feb 27, 2007

Full Review

Josh Larsen

LarsenOnFilm

...affection, not derision, lead the way.

Rated: 3.5/4

May 29, 2021

Full Review

Aaron Neuwirth

We Live Entertainment

That's what Waiting for Guffman is, a big bowl of laughs, reliant on peculiar characters, with actors who are all committed to the bit.

Rated: 8/10

May 20, 2020

Full Review

Ellen Dendy

Common Sense Media

Fab small-town spoof; subtle humor may bore kids.

Rated: 4/5

Jan 1, 2011

Full Review

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Synopsis

When the town of Blaine, Mo., approaches its sesquicentennial, there's only one way to celebrate: with a musical revue called "Red, White and Blaine." Hoping the show will be his ticket back to Broadway, impresario Corky St. Clair (Christopher Guest) rounds up a cast of enthusiastic but untalented locals (Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara) to perform his masterwork. But, when Corky reveals that theater agent Mort Guffman will attend the opening, things really kick into high gear.

Director: Christopher Guest
Screenwriter: Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: Pale Morning Dun, Castle Rock Entertainment, All Night Productions, Sony Pictures Classics
Rating: R (Brief Strong Language)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 31, 1996, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 3, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.9M
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Surround, DTS, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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