Rating: 
Summary: Waiting for MORE
Review: In a Hollywood rife with sequels, I hope that Christopher Guest will reprise his characters from Guffman and give us two more hours in beautiful Blaine! This is an absolute treat from beginning to end, featuring an ensemble cast pulls it off to perfection. If you enjoyed This is Spinal Tap, then you cannot miss with this selection. It was great in the theater, great on VHS and I can't wait to add the DVD to my collection in August. If you loved Tap and Guffman, the you had better see Best in Show, it is just as funny!
Rating:
Summary: Easily, one of the funniest films ever
Review: Buy this movie. If you liked Best in Show or Spinal Tap, this tops those 2. Some of the comments in the film concerning "snipers" to protect people in Missouri to the auditions to make the play will keep you laughing. A definate own for those with an intelligent sense of humor.
Rating: 
Summary: It's A Look In The Mirror
Review: Civic pride and the desire to perform bring an eclectic group of people together in the mock documentary, or "mockumentary," "Waiting for Guffman," directed by Christopher Guest. As he did with his more recent outing, "Best In Show," Guest uses his satirical format to tell the story of the good people of Blaine, Mo., who are planning a celebration to commemorate the sesquicentennial of their fair town, the highlight of which will be a play depicting the history of Blaine. And how fortunate they are, as the celebrated director Corky St. Clair (Guest), who has had some close encounters with Broadway, has recently settled down in Blaine and has agreed to undertake the monumental task of directing the play, which he decides to present as a musical. He has the High School band/music teacher, Lloyd Miller (Bob Balaban) to provide the music; now all he has to do is assemble his cast. So he posts an announcement for auditions, and with that, the action begins. St. Clair has a grand vision of what his musical will be, and once rehearsals begin and he realizes just how good it is, he contacts some people he knows from his brush with the Great White Way, who agree to send a representative, Guffman, to see the show. St. Clair, of course, is walking on air, as he sees this as a chance at the big time; he's convinced they're going all the way to Broadway with this one. And on the night of the show, anticipation runs high as St. Clair and the members of the cast wait for Guffman to arrive. They've even reserved a folding chair in the front row for him, and as the curtain goes up, they hold their breath awaiting the first glimpse of The Man himself. Guest takes you through the whole process, from the auditions to the final show, and through interviews you get to know the townsfolk and their feelings about living in Blaine and their thoughts on the sesquicentennial and St. Clair's elaborate musical. And as you meet these people, I guarantee you're going to run into more than a few from your own experience; and anyone who's ever had anything to do with community theater on any level, is definitely going to be able to identify with the characters and situations presented here. Written by Guest and Eugene Levy, the screenplay is rife with insight into human nature on a level with anything ever written by Thackeray or Twain. The humor is dry and subtle; never forced, it evolves totally from the characters and the situations Guest and Levy have created. And, as David Byrne did with "True Stories," they play up the humor of every day life in a small town without ever making fun or maligning it in any way; there are no "cheap shots" employed just for the sake of a laugh. It's all delivered good-naturedly and with taste. If they seem to be laughing at anyone, rest assured, it's themselves above all. Among those involved in bringing this piece of Americana to life are Fred Willard as Ron Albertson, and Catherine O'Hara as his wife, Sheila, who together run a local travel agency, but are entertainers at heart and jump at the chance to perform in St. Clair's musical; Parker Posey as Libby Mae Brown, who hopes to leave her job at the Dairy Queen behind when the show moves to Broadway; Eugene Levy as Dr. Allan Pearl, a dentist with a latent desire to perform who finally gets his chance with St. Clair; and Matt Keeslar as Johnny Savage, the mechanic who never realized where he real talents lay until St. Clair came along, and winds up on the stage, much to the chagrin of his dubious father, Red, played by Brian Doyle-Murray. The performances by one and all are first rate, and it gives that necessary sense of realism to the film that really makes it work; these are not actors you're watching, but real people in a very real town. The supporting cast includes Don Lake (Blaine Historian Phil Burgess), Paul Dooley (UFO Abductee), Linda Kash (Mrs. Pearl), Miriam Flynn (Costume Dresser), Jill Parker-Jones (Stage Manager), Larry Miller (Glen Welsch, Mayor), Deborah Theaker (Gwen Fabin-Blunt, Councilwoman), Michael Hitchcock (Steve Stark, Councilman) and Scott Williamson (Tucker Livingston, Councilman). Alfred Hitchcock may be the Master of Suspense, but with "Waiting for Guffman," Christopher Guest proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is the Master of the "Mockumentary." He has an eye for detail and an innate sense of what makes people tick, and he fills his film with all the nuance and quirks of life that can be found every day in any small town or metropolis across the country. With this film he holds up the mirror and says, "Go ahead, take a look," and it gives you a chance to let your hair down and perhaps realize that everything isn't quite as serious as it seems sometimes; a chance to laugh at yourself and the guy next to you, with nothing but the best intentions, while affording you the opportunity of just having some good, old fashioned fun. And that's the magic of the movies.
Rating:
Summary: Second time is a charmer
Review: The first time I saw this film, I was a little disappointed. All of my friends said it was so hillarious and bla bla bla.. but then I watched it again and was shocked to find myself laughing with tears in my eyes. It's a very special movie that only gets better everytime you watch it.. and this is one of those movies. If you don't like it so much the first time around, try watching it just one more time... see if that doesn't suit you.
Rating:
Summary: Superior Character Study
Review: Some may have viewed this sleeper after being drawn in by "Best in Show". However, the earlier character study in Guffman is superior to any I've viewed. The first time you see it, it is hilarious. The second, third or fourth time, you just sit open-mouthed at the sheer talent portraying amusing and unlikely characters that may just exist across the U.S. or the planet Earth.
Rating:
Summary: the best movie
Review: This is the best movie I've ever seen. What more can I say? I've probably seen it 50 times, and I laugh just as much now as I did the first. I like this movie much better than Best in Show, even though it's a great film too. But I watched Waiting for Guffman, and it will always be my favorite Christopher Guest movie. No one can compare to Corky St. Clair
Rating:
Summary: Worth the wait.
Review: "Mockumentary" about an ex-New Yorker named Corky St. Clair who engineers a musical revue in a Missouri small town, which, we're told, is the "Stool Capital of the World". This is the wrong environment for a Broadway-loving gay man, and Christopher Guest gets a heckuva lot of comic mileage from it. Corky St. Clair may be an experienced theater-man, but the local "talent" he has to work with leaves a lot to be desired: the prime hilarity here is watching Guest's character put out this (increasingly) optimistic cheerleading of his sorry troops. And what troops! The extremely talented cast (Fred Willard, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, et al.) have an unconscionably good time ripping apart small-town yokels' pretensions of "artistic" achievement. (My favorite is the guy who does a Carson impression -- of course, he lets you know WHO he's impersonating beforehand.) Yes, it's a touch mean-spirited . . . like (let's face it) all good comedy. *Waiting for Guffman* is, unlike the troupe of players it depicts, a diamond in the rough.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Comedies of the 90's!
Review: In the 90's, Hollywood studios introduced the world to the gross out comedy. Each year studios and filmakers upped the ante on just how disgusting a film could slip by the MPAA. While there were some funny films in there, "There's Something About Mary" and "South Park: B.LU.", most of the comedies released were just flat out stupid. Even Woody Allen struck a reef in the 90's. "Celebrity" comes rushing to my mind here. While there wasn't much brain power being put to use in the studio system, the independent film industry showed that they had some brains and knew how to make a truely funny film. Filmed as a fake documentary, "Waiting For Guffman" tells the story of a small town USA's brief, (very brief) run in with showbiz. To commemorate 150th anniversary of the founding of Blaine, Missouri (the stool capital of the world), the town leaders commission a play, which is to be about Blaine's history. As you may have guessed, this isn't exactly going to be a high budget, professionally done production, but the local folks involved in the play don't seem to realize this. What makes the film brilliant is that Guest creates a group of widely diverse characters and puts them together in a situation, specifically the play. The interactions the characters have are just flat out hilarious. There's the flaming gay director who no one seems to realize is gay or a hack, a Jewish Dentist, a white trash girl who works at the DQ and two married travel agents who think that they really are actors. The funniest moments though, are when these characters are being interviewed and they talk about how impressed they are with themselves. This is just a fabulous comedy. If you've never seen it, do so ASAP.
Rating:
Summary: Funniest Movie Ever
Review: My heart stopped when I saw that "Waiting for Guffman" is coming out on DVD. My husband and I have memorized this insanely funny movie--we even dubbed it onto a cassette tape so that we can listen to it in the car! "Best in Show" is great, but "Waiting for Guffman" is even better. I have the soundtrack to "Red, White, and Blaine," and I hope that the deleted scenes include the missing parts of the play-within-a-play: "This Bulging River," "Nothing Ever Happens in Blaine," and the complete "Penny for your Thoughts." Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: From one who knows...
Review: ...this is a totally accurate rendering of what happens when everything goes wrong. My wife and I were in a musical production where the director was flighty, the musical director kept trying to take over, and several cast members thought much more of themselves than anyone else did. It was a disaster, but we had a lot of fun, and it is one of my best memories. I'm only remaining anonymous because I don't want any of the participants' feelings to be hurt by this. If you can relate, you will find this movie funnier than most people, and at a deeper level. This is what "The Producers" were wishing for.
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