Christopher Guest makes special, hilarious films that I often think about. His relationships with great performers like Catherine O’Hara and the late Fred Willard allow him to create characters bursting with life. Everyone brings their own strengths to the heavily improvised films. It speaks to Guest’s confidence in his cast that they will make the audience laugh until it hurts. For me, it hurts a lot every time. Waiting For Guffman is no different. Its love and admiration for small towns, everyday people, and the arts clutches me when I sit down for a viewing, and it lingers in my mind long after the credits have rolled. I’m also guilty of letting it linger a bit too much, and then I burst out laughing because I thought of the Chinese restaurant scene or that proverb about the baby in the tire.
Waiting For Guffman follows Corky St. Clair (Guest), a small-town theater director tasked with putting together a performance celebrating the town’s anniversary. Before the grand musical finale, in typical Guest fashion, the film takes plenty of time to learn about the town and the incredibly genuine people/cast. What makes Guest’s movies so dear to my heart are that they feel real– a little too real at times. Willard and O’Hara’s travel agency business is clearly not the goal they had in mind as they grew up. Eugene Levy and Linda Kash as the cute married couple being swooped up into the gravitas of small-town theater is sweet and charming. All of them are delightful, but Parker Posey balances them all out with her slacker attitude, clinging on to aspirations of a better life. She’ll always have the DQ where, when you’re thirsty, you can get a Coke. Guest and the cast have a knack for not being mean-spirited in their mockumentaries. If anything, they recognize these situations as great excuses to show off their skills.
The rehearsals for the musical are great examples of such respect. As someone who spent their middle school years to college in theater, I can appreciate how over the top the jokes are during these small, intimate spaces. There’s a rehearsal in an auditorium where Guest is banging on a bongo while Levy is dancing around in such a ridiculous way that you think there’s a medical situation going on. That one rehearsal scene captures the fun of a small-scale theater rehearsal. They’re fun, sometimes aimless, and full of laughs. A nod to the production crew for making all of the sets, costumes, and venues feel cheap, which is a compliment. There’s a thrift store look to the costumes of the show, and the sets look like they were actually put together by individuals who may not be artistically talented, but they put all their heart into it. The musical is clumsily put together, adding to the film’s charm and heart. It plays out exactly what a Corky St. Clair musical should be.
While I can go on about how Waiting For Guffman is a comedic masterpiece, there are times when a pang of fear hits me. I can never shake the feeling of sadness when you pull the comedic curtain away from it all. The Chinese restaurant I mentioned earlier is amazing for its jokes, but also for how Kash, Levy, O’Hara, and Willard allude to the hidden tragedies these characters each have. I must mention that I love the establishing shot of the place followed by the interior shot as it nails the vibe of a crummy (but amazing, somehow) Chinese place every town has. Willard and O’Hara drunkenly shouting out marriage and sexual problems amid Eugene Levy shoving eggrolls down his throat is mortifying. You also learn how Levy and Kash are characters that never travel, never take the opportunities to commit to dreams they want to see. Waiting For Guffman is a sweet film that understands how these townspeople function. They are people who want to be at center stage with the spotlight on them. Instead, they are committed to a life– any life– that lets them just survive. Or, for David Cross, allow him a place where he can find those UFOs. I love this movie as much as I hold dear those memories from years ago when my artistry was presented on stage.
Waiting for Guffman
1996
dir. Christopher Guest
84 min.
Screens Monday, 7/31, 7:00 @ Coolidge Corner Theatre
Part of the ongoing series: Big Screen Classics
