Wenn Guffman kommt

This is the first of several films that Christopher Guest and his friends have made using a very unusual style. Instead of a clearly defined script, some very talented actors (such as Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Fred Willard and others) took a script idea and improvised throughout. The film was then created using the best bits and I can honestly say that there is nothing like this film. While some of the jokes are very, very dry and occasionally fall flat, there is a subtle charm and wit to the film as you follow a group of 3rd rate local actors who have insane visions of Broadway.

The film is ostensibly about a very local stage production about the founding of some small town. While these sort of pageants have been ubiquitous in small town America, this one is unique because supposedly a guy by the name of Guffman is coming to town and plans two see it. Guffman, it seems, is from Broadway and the cast has the temerity to believe that maybe they'll impress him so much that they'll become major stars. Considering the quality of the acting is well below that of an average high school production, this is very absurd. Yet, although ridiculous, there is a certain something in many of these people that is very likable so there is some depth to the film--you aren't just laughing at yokels who have ridiculous aspirations.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film and think that people who like their humor subtle and perhaps a bit painful will enjoy this film. People who prefer broad comedy probably won't enjoy this very much.

Waiting for Guffman is hilarious and it still holds up after several repeat viewings. The characters are all incredibly funny, the actors playing them are perfectly cast and incredible in their (hilarious) roles, and the script is simple but so very entertaining. It also has heart and you feel for the characters, but mostly it's just plain funny. I'd say it's not quite as funny as Spinal Tap but it's a better movie, if that makes sense. More heart and drama. I highly recommend this movie (and Spinal Tap too).

"Ostensibly posing as a documentary interviewing Blaine's manifold townsfolk, from city councilors, UFO experts, to those involved in the musical production, WAITING FOR GUFFMAN is also a jewel of improvisation, the majority of its hilarious lines, dialogue and personal interactions is ad-libbed (though Guest and Eugene Levy nominally take the credits as the scenarists), and delightfully, each member of Guest's stock company is gung-ho to contribute their own laugh lines into the fold, and the entire film is washed with uncynical ironies, from a pair of travel agents who has never ventured out of the town (save for a sexual organ reduction surgery, no less!), to the town's geography-challenged founding father, the much plugged stool manufacture (and those who can perform and utter it with a perfect serious face), not to mention the UFO abduction anecdote, a self-claimed abductee (Dooley) recounts that he has been multiply probed."

read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks

Face it, between Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman, Christopher Guest leaves no doubt, that he alone ,is the greatest mockumentary film maker of all-time. Which film is better? Good luck with that one. Even though I have seen both of them in the past, I just watched both of them again. And could watch them, both,again. Just wanted to add my two cents.

Waiting for Guffman is one of those too-rare motion pictures that actually lives up to the label of "a comedy". Thirty minutes into Waiting for Guffman, my stomach hurt from laughing. Like some of the most brilliant comedies of recent years such as Clerks Waiting for Guffman reminds us of the true meaning of the term "sidesplitting." And, unlike in many of the movies on my "funniest films" list, there's nothing bizarre or twisted about this humor. The laughs dished out by Waiting for Guffman are universally accessible.