by Joey Guerra
Entertainment Editor
Writer/director/actor Christopher Guest has done something amazing with his film Waiting For Guffman.
He has assembled a first-rate cast, given them outlines of characters, thrown in a big musical revue, set it all in the small town to end all small towns, and he has come up with one of the most delightful, surprising and entertaining films to hit the big screen in recent memory.
Choosing to shoot Waiting For Guffman in a mock-documentary style, Guest has created a film rife with small-town eccentricities and odd characters. The grainy feel of the documentary approach adds a layer of inspired seriousness to the goings-on that allows Waiting For Guffman to revel in its small-town trappings.
Corky St. Clair (Guest) is an ex-New Yorker struggling to bring an artistic scene to the town of Blaine, Mo., where he now resides. His productions, including a stage rendition of Backdraft, have caused quite a stir in the area, even making front-page headlines.
With the coming celebration of 150 years of town history, Corky sees his chance and grabs it. He plans to undertake Red, White and Blaine, a lavish musical revue commemorating the town's history that will touch on everything: the founding, the claim to fame [Stool (as in chair) Capital of the World], even a UFO encounter/potluck dinner that occurred in 1946.
When Corky sets out to cast his production, the town's "artsiest" folks turn out, including Ron and Sheila Albertson (Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara), married travel agents who have never been outside of Blaine; Libby Mae Brown (Parker Posey), a Dairy Queen counter girl; Dr. Allan Pearl (Eugene Levy), the town dentist with the lazy eye; and Clifford Wooley (Lewis Arquette), a retired taxidermist.
When news that New York bigwig Mark Guffman will attend the show and possibly offer a chance to get to Broadway, the cast and crew head into overdrive and commit full force.
The audition scenes are only the beginning of these actors' dead-on hilarious performances. Ron and Sheila add their own dialogue to a painfully funny rendition of "Midnight at the Oasis," and Libby Mae gives a suggestive new tone to her take on the Doris Day staple, "Teacher's Pet" (Posey's own idea).
Once the actors are all in order (including the personal recruiting by Corky of young, ruggedly handsome mechanic Johnny Savage), the show gets off to an inspired start. Despite the grumblings of Lloyd (a hilariously deadpan Bob Balaban), all the players are geared up. All they're missing is talent.
Guest has crafted a genuinely funny and slyly inspiring film that never falls off its track. Every scene is chock-full of laughs and quirky insights, from the out-of-town wife whom Corky constantly mentions to the secretive talk of Ron's "operation."
Nothing is taken too seriously in this film, but sweet messages about overcoming the obstacles and doing your best abound. They never give way to sappy scenes, though, unless you were laughing so loud you probably missed them.
Much of the acting was improvisational, with co-writers Guest and Levy giving each character a brief description to run with. To pick a standout performance from the stellar cast is next to impossible. Guest, Posey, Willard, O'Hara and Arquette all prove themselves deft comedians, improvising skits and scenes with the greatest of ease.
Waiting For Guffman is a delight, pure and simple. Theater may not be your cup of tea, but this film may just make you wanna throw on your dancin' shoes and audition for A Chorus Line.