Top Film for Each Year of My Life – 1997

Waiting for Guffman

“And another thing. Once you go into that circle, the weather never changes. It is always 67 degrees with a 40% chance of rain.”

“And I'll tell you why I can't put up with you people: because you're BASTARD people! That's what you are! You're just bastard people! And I'm goin' home and I'm gonna... I'm gonna BITE MY PILLOW, is what I'm gonna do!”

My first introduction to Waiting for Guffman was on the TV Guide channel when it first started showing on HBO or Showtime. I remember the auditions being highlighted in the trailer, namely the guy who juggles balls with his mouth (get you minds out of the gutter) and the couple singing “Midnight at the Oasis” slightly off-key (who I would later learn to be Fred Ward and Catherine O’Hara). My initial impression from these brief clips: “that looks weird.” And not being involved in school or Community Theater made it less likely that I would seek out the film.
Flash forward about two years to a time when I was a far more mature 17 (maybe I was 16. Damn having a birthday in the middle of the year!!!) and I have now experienced the brilliance of This Is Spinal Tap (forgive the lack of umlauts). While not directed by Christopher Guest, Spinal Tap acquainted me with the comic stylings of the “mockumentary.” Along with the discovery of the form came some enthusiastic praise from friends. I don’t know why they were watching movies without me, but I’m glad they passed on the good word. Yes, Waiting for Guffman is weird, but in the best possible ways.

The Guest repertory company is filled with unbelievably funny people. I don’t typically find comedienne’s all that funny (I know, I’m such a sexist), but the women who populate these films do so much to make them as great as they are. Parker Posey and Catherine O’Hara have both done incredible work outside Guest’s world, but I don’t think they are ever better than in these movies. Larry Miller, Fred Willard, and Eugene Levy are perennial “that guys” and all apparently have the inability to say “no” to bad comedies. I’ll let them slide since they are typically the best part of those movies. Bob Balaban is one of my favorite actors ever. Just seeing him on screen makes me happy (and he’s by far the best part of Lady in the Water). And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention David Cross’ brief appearance delivering one of the film’s best monologues (partially excerpted above).

1997 didn’t offer much competition for the best film of the year. I know the rebuttal is Boogie Nights, which is great, but doesn’t give me the same sort of feeling that Guffman does. I find it mildly interesting that my top two for ’97 are both behind the scenes look at (completely different) acting worlds. And of all the films from the year that I still need to see, I know that none of them will mean nearly as much to me as Waiting for Guffman. In a way, it’s kind of not fair asking movies you haven’t seen before to compete with movies firmly entrenched in nostalgia, but what are you going to do? I’ll just fantasize about being on the set while the Guest repertory players do their thing.
I am a little worried that Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy are out of ideas, though. They’ve already done two films about behind the scenes of acting and two about bands (well, Levy has only done the one). This group has only done five films together. That’s not a favorable percentage. Though, in the end, the films are funny, and that’s all that matters.