Search - Waiting for Guffman on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Humor Movie Release: 1996 DVD Release: 08/21/2001 Format: DVD - Soft-Matted WSE for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 24 mins Studio: Warner Home Video Members Wishing: 9 Genres: Comedy, Mockumentary, Showbiz Comedy

The city of Blaine, Missouri is celebrating its sesquicentennial, and what better reason could there be to put on a show? Corky St. Claire (Christopher Guest), current leader of Blaine's community theater group and creator of a stage musical version of Backdraft that led to the unfortunate destruction of the theater, has been commissioned to put together a musical about the city's noble history, "Red, White and Blaine," which stars a variety of the town's theatrical talent. Corky's cast includes Ron and Sheila Albertson (Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara), a pair of married travel agents that Corky calls "the Lunts of Blaine;" Allan Pearl (Eugene Levy), a dentist who insists that he wasn't the class clown in high school but did sit next to him; Libby Mae Brown (Parker Posey), a sweet young thing who lives for her job at the Dairy Queen; and Clifford Wooley (Lewis Arquette), an "Old Blainian" who makes gun racks from deer hooves. Somehow, Corky has persuaded a major theatrical producer in New York to send a representative to look at the show -- is it possible that "Red, White and Blaine" could be headed to Broadway? Christopher Guest directed and co-wrote this very funny mock-documentary, in addition to playing the flamboyant Corky; Guests's partners from This Is Spinal Tap, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, helped write the memorable songs for "Red, White and Blaine." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Christopher Guest - Corky St. Claire
Eugene Levy - Allan Pearl
Fred Willard - Ron Albertson
Catherine O'Hara - Sheila Albertson
Bob Balaban - Lloyd Miller
Parker Posey - Libby Mae Brown

Waiting for Guffman is easily one of the funniest movies of the 1990s, and this DVD edition presents the film in all of its hilarious glory. The 1.85:1 widescreen presentation is a sight Mort Guffman would surely approve of. The sound is consistently sharp and clear, showcasing each zinger and off-off-off-off-Broadway musical number. The DVD really is a sidesplitting audio-visual treat. The "Special Features" menu presents a number of quality nuggets, though there's not as much comedy in some of the supplements as one would expect. The commentary track from director/co-writer/star Christopher Guest and co-writer/co-star Eugene Levy is as funny as it is interesting. Guest and Levy take turns playing the straight man, lying about the production, generally stalling for time, and slinging subtle sarcasm at their co-stars. The 14 deleted/additional/alternate scenes, while funny in spurts, don't live up to the film. Yes, there are some laughs in them, including a frightening alternate ending featuring Ron and Sheila, but diehard fans will know that there were 60 hours of footage shot for the movie and that a great extended version of the movie has made the rounds in the bootleg circuit. A collection of outtakes would have been most welcome. "Behind the Scenes" is simply a few short paragraphs of text; it would be more appropriately labeled "Production Notes." The widescreen trailer is a pleasant two-minute overview of the movie. ~ Tim DiGravina, All Movie Guide