Waiting for Guffman (Warner Bros., R)
Starring Christopher Guest and Parker Posey
Rating:
Three and a half stars - An intricately beautiful slice of oddball heaven.
Isn't it funny how art imitates life?
Before this turns into one long Muffin cartoon, an explanation is in order. In the history of cinema, documentaries, while not dominating the scene, have slowly evolved into an often-used form.
A form ripe for ridicule, as it turns out. The conventions are turned upside-down in the form of "mockumentaries," most famously in "This is Spinal Tap." Writer and actor Christopher Guest lights the fire under another tongue-in-cheek romp in 1996's "Waiting for Guffman."
The town of Blaine, Missouri is planning its 150th anniversary celebration with a musical extravaganza. The town is abuzz for Corky St. Clair's (Guest) production, after such fine stage work as "Backdraft."
All of the locals try their hand at auditions, with gratuitous bad singing and acting contributing to the "R" rating. What we are left with is an eclectic cast of characters: Dr. Allan Pearl (Eugene Levy, the dad in "American Pie"), Libby Mae Brown (indi queen Parker Posey) and the husband-wife team of Ron and Sheila Albertson (Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara).
What follows is a tale any stage performer can relate to: struggles for money (St. Clair asks for $100,000, the entire Blaine budget is $20,000), power struggles behind the scenes and increased tension as the big day nears.
Throwing a powder keg into the thespian fire is word from a New York critic (Guffman) that he will attend the gathering, with a possibility that "Red, White and Blaine" could go all the way to Broadway with a good performance.
Obviously, the film plays a great deal on the "small town, big dreams" theme. Interviews with each quirky resident reveal both quotable lines and an odd sense of small-town humanity. Each character quirk is overdosed with steroids, but at the core is a familiarity with real life backed by a wink and a smile.
As with any comedy, the strength is in each character finding humor in their parts. Guest pulls out all the stops with hysterical interviews and mannerisms that could crack up a mime. Posey, despite her obscenely skinny arms, portrays a Dairy Queen employee-turned musical star with a great subtle humor that plays well off of Guest's antics.
But as the big night opens and Guffman has yet to appear, all of the humor and zany musical numbers take a back seat to the feeling of a bright future fading. Whether Guffman makes an appearance or not is up to you to find out, but the hilarious road to discovery has nary a pothole.
Originally published in the 2/10/00 edition of the Northern Star.
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