Good concept, poorly executed.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

This is one of the funniest mockumentaries that you'll ever watch and I rate it right alongside 'This is Spinal Tap'. It has all the standard elements that is used in mockumentaries like ordinary people with delusions of grandeur, awkward and cringe-worthy moments, straight faced comedy,etc. and every actor carries out his/her role absolutely perfectly. Eugene Levy, Parker Posey, Christopher Guest, Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard, they all are pretty much note perfect.The film is beautifully structured and directed by Christopher Guest. His attention to detail is noteworthy and the film contains an abundance of subtlety which actually makes the film worthy of being watched over and over again. The story revolves around a small musical stage programme being held at the town hall commemorating the 150th anniversary of the foundation of a small American town in Missouri named Blaine. This film is hysterical and pokes fun at the small town characters whose behaviours embody self importance. However underneath the sarcastic humour of showing a bunch of nobodies from a town no one knows act like they are the next big thing, there is actually an undertone of sadness because the film understands that although these people are delusional, they are still people who are sweet and have ambitions like all of us to make it big and achieve success. However unfortunately their lives won't probably amount to much and life will go on without much change.

I was shocked there were 18 pages of good reviews. This has to be one of the worst movies especially considering it was recommended. Must admit that comedies are not my favorite genre, but this movie made it worst in that it tried so hard to be clever that it made me squirm to watch it.The concept of the movie is comparable to audition week on American Idol. You watch because people are so blind to their shortcomings. But we knew this movie didn't have bad actors. So how funny would it be to have good singers try to convince they shouldn't get anywhere near an American Idol tryout? It would be pointless as this movie was.The use of improv is over-rated. We've all been in that setting where a group of friends get on a roll and everyone is cracking up with tears in the their eyes. I feel that is improv. Improv can't be turned on just because the camera is rolling as this film proves. If you like that Drew Carey hosted show of improv, you'll probably like this film.Overall the jokes were poor, the improv was sophomoric, and the over-acting by Guest and company was campy...and those are my compliments of this drivel. If a guy playing a trumpet AND the kettle drum at the same time is funny to you, fine. For me, I prefer more heady stuff like "I Love Lucy" or "Hee-Haw".But remember, I think SNL lost its humor in the 1980's, so maybe you'll like this G-rated humor. I kept waiting for a person to identify himself as the zoo keeper and then tell us there was no zoo in town. That's the humor you can expect.My only wish was that I could give this a minus rating.

I was tempted to write in the Summary line that this movie was,in fact,the birth of the "Mockumentary" form of comedy that has brought forth not only director/writer/co-star Christopher Guest's ensuing films("Best in Show","A Mighty Wind"and "For Your Consideration")but such choice TV offerings as "Arrested Development","The Office" and "Reno 911!" and movies owing some nod to this style such as "Drop Dead Gorgeous","Lisa Picard is FAmous" and "Run! Ronnie,Run!",but actually,that distinction may belong in truth to "This is Spinal Tap",which is,in turn where Guest cut his teeth in terms of straight-playing,improvisational "tour-guiding" of viewers through fictional and laughable "real" people and situations. Still,it feels like this movie practically made the improvised(and not improvised)sense of taking the viewer through supposedly unforced and natural parody seem natural,effortless and brilliant.The small,central(?) Missouri town of Blaine is(As of 1995-96) turning 150 years old,and for something special to commemorate the sesquicentennial of Founder's Day,one-time Broadway actor and choreographer Corky St.Clair(Guest,relishing this chance to shed his more bankable notice from such films as "Spinal" and "Princess Bride")decides to seize this opportunity and put on a big-scale,Broadway quality musical celebrating the town's quaint yet odd history. He hires a composer--a quietly resentful music teacher(Bob Balaban,masterfully non-descript and intelligent,quietly funny)--and goes about assembling a cast. After sitting through an audition casting call that can be politely described as "Unique"(examples: a caped stunt player and a man who fires ping pong balls and catches them,both by mouth),he is able to make his cast:Dr.Allan Pearl(Eugene Levy,who is a joy to watch in almost everything he does) a shy,modestly talented but game dentist with vision problems;Ron and Sheila Albertson(Fred Willard--who would belong in a HAll of FAme of comedic character actors--and CAtherine O"HAra,who along with Levy,is a Ace SCTV alum who NEEDS more projects like this),local travel agents,also semi-talented and both quite delusional; Libby MAe Brown(Parker Posey,somewhat out-of-the-norm for her here,IF there's a norm for her types of roles),a basically unspoiled Dairy Queen employee,also with limited stage talent but game for the challenge;Johnny SAvage(MAtt Keeslar),a handsome but perceivably dense auto mechanic who goes along for the show,regardless of how much he may really fit in;and local storyteller Clifford Wooley(Lewis Arquette,more famous for being a member of the acting family),who serves as the narrator for their production. As Corky assembles the talent on hand,rehearses and tries to get the show up, he runs into his share of roadblocks(lack of funding,cast availability,potential nervous breakdowns,etc.)as he gets word(perhaps solicited)that a major Broadway talent scout named Mort Guffman(hence the title)may be on his way to view the show,presenting the chance for Corky to return to his beloved New York and possibly a chance for "Stars to be Born",so to speak.Co-written by Levy,this movie leaves the punchlines,situations and pratfalls--verbal AND physical--to be caught by the audience,never overdoing anything and always rolling the situation along. BArely ninety minutes long,the movie figures--and rightly so--that if you missed something and were at all interested in what you saw that you'd want to watch it again,perhaps multiple times. These are all qualities that,while I realize in major motion pictures is going to be somewhat rare,I LOVE to see employed. Being someone who has dabbled in local theater,I can say that there are some rather universal elements in the look,feel and ambitions of "putting on the show" and making sure "the Show must Go on!" that make this movie distinctive and great. Whether it's a simple Summer Stock production or a MAssive,Major Broadway production,there's always this idea that the stage is somewhere where talent is raw and unpredictable,tough to corral and always rife with potential to go wrong. Besides the previous "film" qualities I've mentioned,this film also captures the sense of making theatre(And it really,let's be honest,wouldn't be so funny if the talent assembled here WASN'T sub-par),which can easily be very UN-entertaining,and makes it funny and raw.A keeper of a movie,and a good teaser or compliment to the other Guest-Levy penned films made from thence forward. Maybe,as the tag-line says,all talent shouldn't be discovered,but you don't feel so bad coming across this assemblage.

The current climate of cinematic comedy is comparable, to an extent, to the trend in horror: everything is geared toward pull-out-all-stops excess that is more disgusting than entertaining. We should thank our lucky stars for Christopher Guest, a consistently surprising filmmaker (he directed "Best in Show" and wrote "This is Spinal Tap") who makes 'mockumentaries' that play like actual documentaries. "Waiting for Guffman" follows Corky St. Clair (Guest), a flamboyant stage director who gathers a group of 'eclectic' locals (a cross-eyed dentist; a husband-and-wife travel agent team; a Dairy Queen employee) for a production about the sleepy town in which they live (its claim to fame being home of the footstool). There is a hilarious authenticity to the behind-the-scenes footage, but the film never laughs at its subjects--as viewers, we share Corky's (admittedly delusional) passion with bittersweet good humor. The supporting cast--consisting of Guest regulars Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Fred Willard, Bob Balaban, and Larry Miller--is in top form here. "Waiting for Guffman" is a quiet comedy gem about a dull, quiet town. And it's also ridiculously rated "R" for two quick instances of F-word usage (way to call it, MPAA!).