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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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Waiting
for Guffman
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Reviewed
by: |
Rachel
Hughes |
| Genre: |
Comedy |
| Video: |
Widescreen
Anamorphic 1.85:1 |
| Audio: |
Dolby
Digital 2.0 |
| Language: |
English
|
| Subtitle: |
English,
French, Spanish, Portugese |
| Length: |
1hr
24mins |
| Rating: |
R |
| Release
Date: |
August
21st 2001 |
| Studio: |
Warner
Brothers |
| Commentary:
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Featuring
Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
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None |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Original
Theatrical Trailer |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
14
deleted scenes |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
Cast
List |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Lewis Arquette,
Bob Balaban, Christopher Guest, Matt Keeslar, Eugene Levy, Catherine
O'Hara, Parker Posey and Fred Willard |
| Screenplay
by: |
Christopher
Guest and Eugene Levy |
| Produced
by: |
Karen Murphy |
| Directed
By: |
Christopher Guest |
| Music: |
Michael McKean, Harry
Shearer and Christopher Guest |
| The
Review: |
From the
brilliant minds that brought you "Spinal Tap" and "Best in Show"
comes another mockumentary "Waiting For Guffman" "Waiting for
Guffman is the story of Blaine Missouri and their 150th birthday.
For the big celebration the town is putting on a play, "Red
White and Blaine," chronicling the history of their town. To
direct the show they tap Broadway transplant, Corky St. Clair.
He assembles a cast of local townfolk to act out his play, and
then sends letters inviting New York Critics to come see their
production. Imagine their surprise when one of them, Mort Guffman,
says yes. Now all of their hopes and dream rest on this one
moment. Can they impress Mr. Guffman and all go to Broadway?
Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy, both of whom star in the
film, wrote "Waiting for Guffman". Granted, saying that they
wrote it is a bit of a stretch. They came up with the premise
and a loose plot, but the actors created all of their own dialogue.
A lot of the scenes were not practiced or rehearsed. One shot
and then move on to the next one. In the end they had over 60
hours of performances. It was then edited down to about an hour
and a half. "Guffman" came out between "Spinal Tap" and "Best
in Show," and sadly is not on the same field with the other
two. Guffman is a funny and entertaining movie, and anyone who
enjoyed "Spinal Tap" or "Best in Show" should definitely watch
it. However it doesn't draw you in as much as the other two.
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| Image
and Sound |
Since this
is supposed to be a documentary it has a different feel than
most movies. The film was all shot with 16mm film. This effects
the quality of the picture, but not in a distracting way. There
is some grain on the film, but this comes more from the film
technique than a bad transfer. The transfer itself looks great.
The colors are all soft, and skin tones natural. The documentary
style is well preserved. The sound is in Dolby 2.0, but honestly
you barely notice. Once again it is not going for a big surround
sound feel. The sound is a bit flat in places, but it adds to
the illusion that this is a documentary. In addition the film
is almost inclusively dialogue driven. There isn't even a score
to the film. The only music in the film is during the actual
production of "Red White and Blaine." |
| The
Extras |
While it
isn't jammed packed with extras there is enough to justify buying
this DVD. There is a commentary, which I'll get too later, and
the original trailer. The back of the DVD said cast and crew
profiles, but the only thing under that title is a cast list
of who played whom. You cannot select anyone. However, if you
get "Best in Show" it has all the same actors, and a pretty
extensive filmography. The main treasures here are the deleted
scenes. The DVD features 14 scenes available with or without
commentary by Eugene Levy and Christopher Guest. While making
this film they tend to just keep the cameras rolling. There
is some great stuff that just doesn't fit in with movie, be
it the mood is too dark, or the film is just getting long. Here
is the cream of the crop of the scenes that didn't make it.
There are some alternative epilogues for some of the characters.
Listening to the commentary is good because they do say why
most of the scenes were cut, and where they would have been
inserted in the film. |
| Commentary |
For two
men that can come up with such incredible improvisation their
commentaries have been extremely disappointing. For this film
and "Best in Show" there are huge gap and to make this one worse,
you cannot hear the movie when they aren't talking. You get
nothing but dead air. Now there are a few interesting tidbits
of information, but they are few and far between. They cover
how and why the got the idea for the film. They do praise the
talent of the stars. But over all the commentary is a let down. |
| Final
Words: |
While not
the best of Guest's mockumentaries it is worth watching. If
you are a fan then picking up the DVD for the deleted scenes
is a must. The commentary will provide a few funny gems as well.
You can also hear the latest from Spinal Tap because all of
the band members helped compose the songs for "Red White and
Blaine". This borders between must rent and must buy. Basically
just watch the film. |
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