Waiting For Guffman

Please note the purpose of this blog is to discuss established classics that I've never seen. As such, the following is laden with spoilers.

Why So Long?
So Spinal Tap is the established classic of this genre, it was readily available on DVD and seems to be on Film4 at least once a year. Then there's the likes of Best in Show and A Mighty Wind, which most video rental stores (at least in Northern Ireland) always seemed to have a copy of. Waiting For Guffman was spoken of, by those who had seen it, in the same manner that some people talk about bands they were into before they'd gone mainstream. This was the connoisseur's choice when it came to the mockumentary; that it never seemed to be for sale in the local Virgin Megastore just added to this air of mystery. In the end, it was going cheap on Apple TV rentals.


And?
What a film, what a marvellous little piece of work this movie is. One of those rare things, especially from the US, a film so confident in its content that it is just happy to let things play naturally on the understanding that the audience are smart and paying attention. Where Spinal Tap went for the jugular, this one goes for the heart, lampooning local theatre in a manner that only those who have lived through it truly could.
 

Even  my use of the word lampoon is a bit of a stretch, one I've made because I lack a better vocabulary. Lampooning implies a mockery, and although there is definitely that, its impossible to ignore the love that Guest and co-writer Eugene Levy have for their baby. Take the tale of the town's creation, the settlers believing they'd reached the Pacific because they could smell salt in the air, the lack of an ocean was explained away as a result of low tide. In other, less skilled hands, this would be the stuff of hicks and yokels; here the whole thing nearly comes off as charming.

It happened on a Sunday and, and every Sunday, about the time I was taken on board that spaceship, I find I have no feelings in my buttocks.

Like Spinal Tap, I can imagine this will stand up to repeat viewings, especially of the closing credits. It was only when I rewound a particular section that I noticed none of the actors would turn their backs when on stage - how does one even think to include a joke like that? As I lamented in my post about Love and Death, its hard to talk about this film without simply recalling jokes, so I'll simply urge you to watch it (last time I checked it was still on offer on Apple TV). One to watch if you enjoy Mortimer and Whitehouse Gone Fishing or Levy's very successful sitcom, Schitts Creek.


Will You be Watching it Again?
It's golden era Christopher Guest, and who doesn't want to increase the amount of Catherine O'Hara in their lives - so, yes.


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