Waiting for Guffman
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: January 31, 1997 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
3
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Feels like an overlong "SCTV" skit. Many prime gags are recycled throughout the film, and, honestly, there's only so much Eugene Levy schtick one can take (though he does get the best Yiddish lines in the film). Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
May be amusing if you feel a pressing need to feel superior to somebody, but the aim is too broad and scattershot to add up to much beyond an acknowledgment of small-town desperation--something Sherwood Anderson and Sinclair Lewis did much better back in the 20s and 30s. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie doesn't bludgeon us with gags. It proceeds with a certain comic relentlessness from setup to payoff, and its deliberation is part of the fun. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The humor is uneven and sometimes crude, but much of the mock-documentary is surprising and amusing.
70
Dallas ObserverPeter Rainer
Such a funny mess that it keeps you laughing even when you realize it's not much better directed than a cable-access talk show. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A madcap gem. Read full review
80
Film ThreatRon Wells
I saw this movie in a room full of San Francisco movie critics, and I haven't heard that much laughter since, well, the piano duet in "Island of Dr. Moreau" (which you must admit, was pretty funny.) Read full review
90
L.A. WeeklyF. X. Feeney
Yet Waiting for Guffman is never mean-spirited. Its weird warmth is perfectly embodied by Guest himself, whose flamboyant, stagestruck choreographer, Corky St. Clair, could have (in less ingenious hands) been a cruel, gay-bashing caricature, but instead becomes a hallucinatory Everyman. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A sly and gleeful comedy showcase that pokes clever fun at the American musical, amateur theatricals and anything else that's not nailed down. Read full review
90
NewsweekDavid Ansen
The movie is, from start to finish, a hoot... Both a savvy satire of smalltown boosterism and an affectionate salute to the performing spirit. [10 Feb 1987, p.66]
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Thirty minutes into Waiting for Guffman, my stomach hurt from laughing. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
I lost it just watching Corky show off such memorabilia as "My Dinner With Andre" action figures and a "Remains of the Day" lunch box. Priceless. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Guest's boldest move is to present the revue in its entirety. It's as if Mel Brooks had shown the complete "Springtime for Hitler,'' the play within his 1968 movie, "The Producers.'' Read full review
63
San Francisco ExaminerCraig Marine
Nowhere near as funny as "Spinal Tap," but fans of this kind of deadpan humor are guaranteed to get a few chuckles out of this one. All of the actors are marvelously horrible, and in this movie, bad equals good. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
A very funny, very unusual ensemble comedy that falls somewhere between slapdash and brilliant, an improvised comedy with more hits than misses. It's also an oddly touching tribute to the joys of show biz. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
The don't quite do for "Oklahoma!" what they did for heavy metal, but they come close. [31 Jan 1997, p.C6] Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The result isn't very funny: There are clever bits, sure, but they're embedded in long, painfully obvious sequences built around one-shot gags. Read full review
88
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
The nonstop amusing mockumentary Waiting for Guffman does to small-town acting troupes what "This Is Spinal Tap did to heavy-metal bands."
50
VarietyDaniel M. Kimmel
The enterprise comes across like a bunch of talented friends making an elaborate home movie for their own amusement. Read full review
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