Film

Waiting for Guffman (1996)

Director: Christopher Guest

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

First in a trio of fond satires on small-time strivers (Best in Show and A Mighty Wind being the others), Guest's spoof documentary tracks the earnest enthusiasm and goofy dedication of a ragtag troupe of amateur thesps putting on a musical - 'Red, White and Blaine' - in celebration of the anniversary of their hick town in Minnesota. Guest's effete Corky St Clair is the prissy master of ceremonies - a resident genius, if you believe his collaborators, who include Levy's vaudevillian dentist, Posey's toothy ex-Dairy Queen waitress, and another superlative turn from Willard and O'Hara as a Mr and Mrs team of travel agents. There are some raucous moments (Corky's hip-swivelling domestic dance moves are a sight to behold), but more often the comedy has the slow burn of a richly nuanced and non-judgmental character study.

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