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Movie
Poster for Waiting for Guffman

Waiting for Guffman

1997 · 84 min

A deadpan, affectionate mockumentary that finds gentle absurdity in small-town dreams, making you cringe and smile at the same time.

Tagline
There's a good reason some talent remains undiscovered.
Overview
Aspiring director Corky St. Clair and the marginally talented amateur cast of his hokey small-town musical production go overboard when they learn that Broadway theater agent Mort Guffman will be in attendance.

Search YouTube for the trailer

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • absurdstrength 3 of 3
  • satiricalstrength 3 of 3
  • warmstrength 2 of 3
  • whimsicalstrength 2 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • ambition
  • identity
  • art
  • friendship
  • isolation
Places
  • small town
  • workplace
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
  • mockumentary
  • ensemble
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence none
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action1
Horror0
Humour9
Realism7
Romance1
Tension3
Darkness2
Complexity5
Emotional weight4

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Where to watch in the UK

Rent or buy
  • Apple TV Store
  • Amazon Video
  • Sky Store
  • YouTube

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres
comedy, music
Directed by
Christopher Guest
Written by
Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy
Starring
Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara, Michael Hitchcock, Larry Miller, Parker Posey, Bob Balaban
Music
Michael McKean, Harry Shearer
Cinematography
Roberto Schaefer
Runtime
84 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

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