This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

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.

Waiting for Guffman is a mockumentary about a small town putting on a production in hopes of making it to Broadway. This new acting trope is led by rather eccentric Corky St. Clair(Christopher Guest), and consists of two travel agents(who have never left town), A Dairy Queen employee, a rather geeky dentist with a lazy eye, and so much more. The movie follows these cast of players with the support of the town, as they put on a production called, "Red, White, and Blaine"(Blaine being the town they live in).What is best about this movie is that the only scripted scenes were that of the actual play. Everything else is completely ad-libbed which makes this movie genuine and just downright funny. Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy, in my opinion, are purely brilliant. The plot works, the characters are so offbeat and hysterical that I can still recall almost every single line they said.All in all, Waiting for Guffman is perhaps one of, if not the, funniest movie I have ever seen. 9/10.

"Waiting for Guffman" is another mockumentary done by Christopher Guest and co. It is set in the town of Blain and focuses on a musical being produced to honour the city's 150yr celebration.Corky (Guest) is the former off-off-off Broadway director who gathers a cast of local wannabe actors to put together a musical telling the proud town's history. Among the local "talent" are Ron & Sheila ALbertson (the awesome Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara) and dentist Dr Alan Pearl (Eugene Levy, funny as always). Excitement builds when the cast discovers Broadway producer Guffman is coming to town to see the musical, with many hoping this could be their big break.The last 20mins of the film is the musical itself, which is pretty funny, as well as charming. The crowd acts as if they're watching Shakespeare, and the cast gives it's all in what is a pretty amateur show.Some decent gags, many of which are subtle. Not in the "Best In Show" class, but not too bad. Guest and Willard keep the thing moving, but if Levy and Willard had greater roles in what is a short film, it could have been much better.

I was tempted to write in the Summary line that this movie was,in fact,the birth of the "Mockumentary" form of comedy that has brought forth not only director/writer/co-star Christopher Guest's ensuing films("Best in Show","A Mighty Wind"and "For Your Consideration")but such choice TV offerings as "Arrested Development","The Office" and "Reno 911!" and movies owing some nod to this style such as "Drop Dead Gorgeous","Lisa Picard is FAmous" and "Run! Ronnie,Run!",but actually,that distinction may belong in truth to "This is Spinal Tap",which is,in turn where Guest cut his teeth in terms of straight-playing,improvisational "tour-guiding" of viewers through fictional and laughable "real" people and situations. Still,it feels like this movie practically made the improvised(and not improvised)sense of taking the viewer through supposedly unforced and natural parody seem natural,effortless and brilliant.The small,central(?) Missouri town of Blaine is(As of 1995-96) turning 150 years old,and for something special to commemorate the sesquicentennial of Founder's Day,one-time Broadway actor and choreographer Corky St.Clair(Guest,relishing this chance to shed his more bankable notice from such films as "Spinal" and "Princess Bride")decides to seize this opportunity and put on a big-scale,Broadway quality musical celebrating the town's quaint yet odd history. He hires a composer--a quietly resentful music teacher(Bob Balaban,masterfully non-descript and intelligent,quietly funny)--and goes about assembling a cast. After sitting through an audition casting call that can be politely described as "Unique"(examples: a caped stunt player and a man who fires ping pong balls and catches them,both by mouth),he is able to make his cast:Dr.Allan Pearl(Eugene Levy,who is a joy to watch in almost everything he does) a shy,modestly talented but game dentist with vision problems;Ron and Sheila Albertson(Fred Willard--who would belong in a HAll of FAme of comedic character actors--and CAtherine O"HAra,who along with Levy,is a Ace SCTV alum who NEEDS more projects like this),local travel agents,also semi-talented and both quite delusional; Libby MAe Brown(Parker Posey,somewhat out-of-the-norm for her here,IF there's a norm for her types of roles),a basically unspoiled Dairy Queen employee,also with limited stage talent but game for the challenge;Johnny SAvage(MAtt Keeslar),a handsome but perceivably dense auto mechanic who goes along for the show,regardless of how much he may really fit in;and local storyteller Clifford Wooley(Lewis Arquette,more famous for being a member of the acting family),who serves as the narrator for their production. As Corky assembles the talent on hand,rehearses and tries to get the show up, he runs into his share of roadblocks(lack of funding,cast availability,potential nervous breakdowns,etc.)as he gets word(perhaps solicited)that a major Broadway talent scout named Mort Guffman(hence the title)may be on his way to view the show,presenting the chance for Corky to return to his beloved New York and possibly a chance for "Stars to be Born",so to speak.Co-written by Levy,this movie leaves the punchlines,situations and pratfalls--verbal AND physical--to be caught by the audience,never overdoing anything and always rolling the situation along. BArely ninety minutes long,the movie figures--and rightly so--that if you missed something and were at all interested in what you saw that you'd want to watch it again,perhaps multiple times. These are all qualities that,while I realize in major motion pictures is going to be somewhat rare,I LOVE to see employed. Being someone who has dabbled in local theater,I can say that there are some rather universal elements in the look,feel and ambitions of "putting on the show" and making sure "the Show must Go on!" that make this movie distinctive and great. Whether it's a simple Summer Stock production or a MAssive,Major Broadway production,there's always this idea that the stage is somewhere where talent is raw and unpredictable,tough to corral and always rife with potential to go wrong. Besides the previous "film" qualities I've mentioned,this film also captures the sense of making theatre(And it really,let's be honest,wouldn't be so funny if the talent assembled here WASN'T sub-par),which can easily be very UN-entertaining,and makes it funny and raw.A keeper of a movie,and a good teaser or compliment to the other Guest-Levy penned films made from thence forward. Maybe,as the tag-line says,all talent shouldn't be discovered,but you don't feel so bad coming across this assemblage.