Waiting for Guffman (1997)
If you loved Best in Show, odds are you'll love this too. (Or the other way around, considering this came out first.) Myself, I was rather lukewarm about Best in Show. So it goes for Guffman too. I think Christopher Guest and all personnel involved are extremely funny and talented people, and they do occasionally hit upon some gems. Guffman doesn't really have anything to equal the pure hysteria of Fred Willard's dog commentator, but it does have the single funniest "Hollywood souvenier shop" ever, plus Eugene Levy in a ridiculous alien suit and a side-splitting musical ode to stools. But this film runs a scant 84 minutes, and the general impression I got is that a LOT of material got left on the cutting-room floor. Just look at how many potential gags are set up, only to be cast aside and forgotten. (Levy's eye problems alone might have yielded enough comedy for three movies. Here it's a throwaway.) So what have we learned, people? Stop being lazy and write a fucking script. Even those talented guys on "Whose Line is it Anyway?" (the British version, mind you -- the American incarnation is pretty dud-riffic when Wayne's not singing and Colin and Ryan aren't doing some damn thing) can't always turn improv into gold.
Grade: B-
If you loved Best in Show, odds are you'll love this too. (Or the other way around, considering this came out first.) Myself, I was rather lukewarm about Best in Show. So it goes for Guffman too. I think Christopher Guest and all personnel involved are extremely funny and talented people, and they do occasionally hit upon some gems. Guffman doesn't really have anything to equal the pure hysteria of Fred Willard's dog commentator, but it does have the single funniest "Hollywood souvenier shop" ever, plus Eugene Levy in a ridiculous alien suit and a side-splitting musical ode to stools. But this film runs a scant 84 minutes, and the general impression I got is that a LOT of material got left on the cutting-room floor. Just look at how many potential gags are set up, only to be cast aside and forgotten. (Levy's eye problems alone might have yielded enough comedy for three movies. Here it's a throwaway.) So what have we learned, people? Stop being lazy and write a fucking script. Even those talented guys on "Whose Line is it Anyway?" (the British version, mind you -- the American incarnation is pretty dud-riffic when Wayne's not singing and Colin and Ryan aren't doing some damn thing) can't always turn improv into gold.
Grade: B-
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