Waiting For Guffman (1996)
Alarmingly in-depth thoughts by Grovemiller and Kirkbride
 
Dustin: Okay my friend, this month you chose Waiting for Guffman. Having seen it a few times now, I think the plot can be summed up pretty easily: A Missouri town is having its 150th anniversary. As part of the celebration, they’re having a local “star” from Broadway write, produce and direct a musical about the town’s history. During the process, they think that a big producer from Broadway (Mort Guffman) is coming to see the show, and everyone gets their hopes up for making it a performance of a lifetime and they’ll all end up on Broadway. The big problem is that nobody, absolutely nobody, among the characters is really that good of an actor, singer or dancer.
 
DJ: "Waiting For Guffman" is a kind of uncomfortable type of funny to a high school and college theatre nerd like me. It makes me laugh, damn right it does, but the hijinks of the sadly untalented director Corky St. Clair and his troupe of amateur performers hits me a bit... close to home. I love it -- but I relate to it. I'm guessing part of you does, too, Mr. Dustin.
 
Dustin: I hate this movie. Really.
 
DJ: WHAT WHAT WHAT???
 
Dustin: Well, I hate the way it makes me feel. The writing is brilliant, and the acting doesn't really get much better than what you get here. But the problem is it's TOO good -- it rubs some raw nerves. I've done community theatre before. It scares me. This was like having flashback of 'nam.
 
DJ: Oh?
 
Dustin: I was not really in 'nam.
 
DJ: Well, I was... wait... no I wasn't. That wasn't me. But I know exactly what you mean. It's HEEEEEELARIOUS. Goddamn spot on, to the point of almost being a memory. I start to wonder which character I was, and I equate other characters to people I know.
 
Dustin: Did you figure out who your film equivalent was?
 
DJ: Jesus, I don't know. I worry sometimes I was like Fred Willard's travel agent. Completely clueless and thinking he's great. Other moments I think I had some of Eugene Levy's awkward, nervous dentist who loves acting, but is completely out of his element at times. And, of course, I relate to Corky St. Clair (Christopher Guest)'s Kriss Kross inspired backward jeans and delusions of grandeur. What about you?
 
Dustin: I'm not a precise match to anyone that I can think of... maybe Bob Balaban's character of the Music Director, Lloyd Miller. Then again, I could just be saying that because it's fun to say "Bob Balaban."
 
DJ: Yes, it is. 

Dustin: Comparisons aside, though... two things that need cleared up right at the front of this: Eugene Levy is a twisted genius, and Fred Willard is a god.
 
DJ: Absolutely. And Catherine O'Hara is right up there with them. Genius abounds in this silly, oddly touching flick.
 
Dustin: I mean, it was another Christopher Guest movie, "Best In Show" that first made me think Willard was a god, but going back and seeing this reinforces it.
 
DJ: Yeah! He has a knack for that clueless kind of overly confident yet endearing character.
 
Dustin: And maybe always on the verge of making the other characters want to punch him.
 
DJ: All of these performers, Guest (also the director), Levy, Willard, O'Hara -- and surprisingly, Parker Posey -- really flourish in the improvisational acting style of this "mockumentary."
 
Dustin: Oh, absolutely... it's a hallmark of all of Guest's work, but his actors consistently do something in this one that is very, very difficult -- they act like they're bad actors, and they act flawlessly even though they're improving. Timing wise, that's maybe one of the hardest things to pull off. To boot, Guest is a master at crafting excellent "uncomfortable moments" in the midst of all this.
 
DJ: I love the uncomfortable laugh!
 
Dustin: One of the best examples of what these people were up to in the midst of this film , pointing out Catherine O'Hara during the actual performance of Corky's show, there's a scene where the cast is supposed to be making noise as a crowd of people. If you pay close enough attention, you can make out that O'Hara is actually "talking" to one of the other actors by going "hubbub, hubbub" over and over. That is just brilliant.
 
DJ: YES!!!! It's so sad yet almost... I don't know... inspirational to see these completely inept people truly TRY to make a great play. It sounds so mean, but I think they all have an odd sort of dignity in the film, too.
 
Dustin: It's beautiful because the actors nail it so perfectly. Willard and O'Hara's characters are the ones that I find the most grating, because they're "those" actors... the kind that are totally egotistical and overblown, almost divas, and they go out of their way to point out that they're more "experienced" at doing theatre than others. As if they're somehow above sticking to the rules of the game… and yet, they're so terrible!
 
DJ: It's that self-delusional ignorance that’s EVERYWHERE in community theatre! I've acted with the old guy who's a retired schoolteacher who thinks he's DeNiro and gives advice to everyone else.
 
Dustin: Oh yeah. My most common one is the kind that thinks he or she can direct the show better than the actual stage director. The same kind that uses technical terms incorrectly.
 
DJ: There’s so much theatrical jargon and very real bits in the movie. It's too funny for real life, but it feels so authentic.
 
Dustin: We've talked so little thus far about Guest's character, Corky. Now, it's fair to say that he was playing him as obviously gay (although not comfortably, since it's a subtext in the movie that he has a "wife," although nobody has ever really seen her, strangely). Do you think that he was playing it as an unfair stereotype?
 
DJ: He is extremely cartoony. And there is the feeling that people will laugh AT him for being gay, but that's not really the point. I mean, I know gay guys who love Corky and find him hilarious. It goes back to the overall good nature of the movie. Corky’s sexuality isn’t necessarily the joke, and he isn't JUST a joke or one note . He's, in a way, a sad figure, stuck in a small town, with dreams that he'll NEVER fulfill. But he keeps trying. He wants to make it to Broadway. His "gayness" is so over the top... but he's not just gay, he's in THEATRE! Still, I think the character has too much heart and too many sides to be offensive.
 
Dustin: Yeah, I pretty much agree with that breakdown, although he too displays a lot of the same flawed qualities as the rest of the characters... he doesn't realize that he's really not that good, and is also a bit of a bully. This is especially true when he's dealing with the town council, tying to get money, and when he's stepping all over Bob Balaban's character.
 
DJ: "I hate you and your ass face!" You're right -- he's a bully. It's a childishness... It's because he's an "artist" and is overly emotional. That's the excuse, and it's so funny to watch.
 
Dustin: On the whole, my non-theatre savvy girlfriend really enjoyed watching this with me. So does that mean that it's not just about the inside jokes?
 
DJ: No… even though our talking about it may give that impression. These characters, though exaggerated, become real people. We see glimpses into their lives ("...workin' at the DQ... makin' the cones"). There's more to them than just the theatre jokes. It adds to it, much the same way knowledge of sports adds to, I dunno, sports movies, but just because I didn't get into basketball that much doesn't mean I can't enjoy Hoosiers, you know? There's a different level of enjoyment to the theatre people, maybe, but there's so much that's just blatantly funny. Like… Eugene Levy's lazy eye is funny.
 
Dustin: And of course, the references to Fred Willard's penis reduction.
 
DJ: Oh my god! That is insane. Plus drunk Catherine O'Hara -- it's great. She's a hilarious, too-real person. Great performance. This movie has so many characters, but they all get a chance to shine.

Dustin: Even the small parts, like David Cross as the UFO expert.
 
DJ: Oh, the UFO stuff! The guy who, on the anniversary of his abduction, has no feeling in his buttocks! First time I watched that, a friend had to leave the room he was laughing so hard.
 
Dustin: It’s a good one to see in a group.
 
DJ: Hell, if you haven't watched it, go rent the thing. It's one of the all-time funniest movies ever made. You can quote me on that. Put it on the DVD special edition, 10th anniversary box in a couple years.
 
Dustin: Ha! Yeah, I'm sure that Christopher Guest is going to read this and will make it a point to do so. Well, I guess you're just a little like Corky... a guy with a dream.
 
DJ: We all have a little Corky in us.
 
Dustin: …
 
DJ: Classy.