WAITING FOR GUFFMAN

WAITING FOR GUFFMAN is one of this year's most riotously funny films, bar none. A wry foray into the behind-the-scenes mayhem of amateur theatre, it follows the misadventures of an odd and questionably talented group as they struggle to mount a formidably ill-conceived musical. The small town of Blaine, Missouri, is celebrating its 150th anniversary, and the locals are just busting with pride. As part of their plans for a sesquicentennial foofaraw, the City Fathers want to stage a production celebrating their town's rich cultural heritage . . . such as it is. It's natural that the massive responsibility of putting on a show should fall to flamboyant choreographer Corky St. Claire (Christopher Guest), by far the town's most colorful resident. The auditions gather an unlikely group of misfits who suffer through cast defections and a less-than-spectacular budget to finally stage “Red, White, and Blaine.” Marrying the comedic talents of Second City and Spinal Tap, WAITING FOR GUFFMAN goes up for big laughs from the get-go and doesn't let up till the curtain falls. At once farcical and subversively witty, this is a show you'll wish could go on and on.- Suzanne Weiss, Toronto Intl. Film Festival