Waiting for Guffman

A mock documentary set in a small American town. The town of Blaine is to celebrate a hundred and fifty years since its founding. A musical is prepared for it, and the work is taken on by Corky St. Clair, who came to the town from New York years ago. He considers himself a man of the theatre and reminds the townspeople of it at every opportunity. Auditions are held. The cast is made of local tradespeople: a dentist, a couple who run a travel agency, a restaurant owner and a mechanic. The rehearsals are the best of it. Nobody can sing, the choreography will not hold and Corky is trying to make a large show out of a production with no budget. Then news arrives: a producer from New York, a man named Guffman, will come to see it. The townspeople take it for an opportunity and each starts dreaming. The method is imitation documentary: talking to camera, interruptions and improvised dialogue. Most of the cast played their scenes without a written text. Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara and Parker Posey are in the cast. Christopher Guest directed. Exactly right for anyone who likes mock documentary and stories about amateur theatre. For a viewer expecting a sharp plot, the film rests on observation of character and moves loosely.