Waiting for Guffman (1996)

I could swear I had seen this film before. There were some scenes that were very familiar but I'm not 100% sure it was from this or other Guest films. Regardless, I am a Christopher Guest fan and this one was no exception.

The story is about a small midwestern town who hold an annual event to celebrate their founding. It happens that they are celebrating their 150th that year. To celebrate, a local stage director sets out to make a musical based upon the history of the city.

The film contains most of the big Guest guests that we've seen in the other movies. One of the fun things about these films is they often play similar, but very different roles, in each film. As usual, Eugene Levy plays a big role that tends to be the best comedic one.

I guess the big thing about these films, that I like, is that they have the quirky characters that could also be your real friends. They use the 'neighbor next door' kind of approach to the films which is what makes it work. If they went too much further over the top, it would be more of a 'silly' comedy but it is reined in enough to where you can believe the characters are your average citizen.

Overall, this one isn't my favorite Guest film but that's not saying much as I pretty much like EVERYTHING he's done, to date. Best in Show is still my favorite but Waiting for Guffman is right up in the top five.

Yes, I'll recommend it.