Waiting for Guffman

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Waiting for Guffman

R,

1996,

1h 23m,

Comedy

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Watchlist

91%

114 Reviews

Tomatometer

91%

25,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

91%

Tomatometer

114 Reviews

91%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

When the town of Blaine, Mo., approaches its sesquicentennial, there's only one way to celebrate: with a musical revue called "Red, White and Blaine." Hoping the show will be his ticket back to Broadway, impresario Corky St. Clair (Christopher Guest) rounds up a cast of enthusiastic but untalented locals (Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara) to perform his masterwork. But, when Corky reveals that theater agent Mort Guffman will attend the opening, things really kick into high gear.

Critics Consensus

This riotously deadpan mockumentary about aspiring community theater performers never stoops to ridicule oft-ridiculous characters.

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Harper Barnes

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Mar 11, 2026

A good cast skilled at deadpan comedy and some very funny lines and clever comedic setups make for an enjoyable farce.

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Jay Boyar

Orlando Sentinel

Mar 11, 2026

4/5

The laughs keep coming partly because Guest has assembled some of the best improv-comedy minds around to act in the film and to make up dialogue.

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Jeff Strickler

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Mar 11, 2026

The townspeople are so genuinely enthused about staging "Red, White and Blaine" that we can't help but hope the show will be every bit the smash they envision.

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Robert Julian

Bay Area Reporter

Mar 11, 2026

Christopher Guest’s creation is not mean-spirited; his Corky is more archetype than stereotype.

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Dan Webster

Spokesman-Review (Washington)

Mar 11, 2026

3/4

Each of the cast members is delusional to an extreme, but all boast such innocence that it's virtually impossible not to sympathize with them.

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Rod Dreher

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Mar 11, 2026

...side-splitting tribute to earnest showmanship and all-American bad taste.

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Finn P

Nov 17, 2018

Adopting the same mockumentary format that he helped popularize in the hilarious This Is Spinal Tap (but whose language is still a bit confusing), Guest creates another film that fans of deadpan humor will find extremely funny and also surprisingly touching in the end as well.

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Anakin W

Oct 30, 2018

Waiting for Guffman is one of those too-rare motion pictures that actually lives up to the label of "a comedy". Thirty minutes into Waiting for Guffman, my stomach hurt from laughing. Like some of the most brilliant comedies of recent years such as Clerks Waiting for Guffman reminds us of the true meaning of the term "sidesplitting." And, unlike in many of the movies on my "funniest films" list, there's nothing bizarre or twisted about this humor. The laughs dished out by Waiting for Guffman are universally accessible.

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Hagrid L

Sep 14, 2018

Not quite cutesy, not quite mean spirited, not quite funny.

Finn M

Aug 2, 2018

One of our favorites of the Guest movies! Funny and tender!

Leia S

Jun 24, 2018

I stick to it: what was fun 20 years ago, is mostly not funny today. Plus, this is not my kind of "funny" anyway.

Harry M

Nov 16, 2017

I think you have to be completely deranged and ill not to have a rollicking good time with this mockumentary. Maybe you don't have any experience with community theater, but I doubt you need any. Eugene Levy's dorky, unassuming, over-mature schtick is in full force, and not at all tiring. Parker Posey - all you need is to see her eyes wonder off when she talks about the new thing she's going to do with Dairy Queen Breezes, and it tells her whole story. All the actors make such great choices, their timing impeccable, consistent, committed. I love Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara. Great scene with them, Levy, and his wife Character names are puns relating to characters - Pearl the dentist, Wooley the taxidermist, Savage the car repairman who tries stealing a stamp machine in town.

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Christopher Guest

Director

Christopher Guest

Corky St. Clair

Eugene Levy

Dr. Allan Pearl

Fred Willard

Ron Albertson

Catherine O'Hara

Sheila Albertson

Parker Posey

Libby Mae Brown

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Synopsis

When the town of Blaine, Mo., approaches its sesquicentennial, there's only one way to celebrate: with a musical revue called "Red, White and Blaine." Hoping the show will be his ticket back to Broadway, impresario Corky St. Clair (Christopher Guest) rounds up a cast of enthusiastic but untalented locals (Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara) to perform his masterwork. But, when Corky reveals that theater agent Mort Guffman will attend the opening, things really kick into high gear.

Director: Christopher Guest
Producer: Karen Murphy
Screenwriter: Eugene Levy
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: Castle Rock Entertainment, Sony Pictures Classics, All Night Productions, Pale Morning Dun
Rating: R (Brief Strong Language)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 31, 1996, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 3, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.9M
Runtime: 1h 23m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Surround, DTS, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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