Following on from my last blog post, I just want to go into more detail about the four films Christopher Guest directed that I and many others hold up as the reason why he is a highly regarded and influential filmmaker.
When I first watched Guest’s “Mockumentary” films not knowing how they were made…
I obviously laughed… a lot! but I was slightly confused about how anyone could possibly write a script so heavily loaded with jokes that were all so perfect for each actor and how the whole film could still hang together so satisfactorily story-wise. I later learned the answer was the jokes were not written.
These films are made using the technique called “Retro Scripting” where a script is written to outline the plot with scene descriptions, character descriptions and notes but no actual dialogue and no lines for the actors.
The cast improvises their dialogue in the scenes.
One of the reasons Guest’s films are so good is his core casts are stacked with these improvisational comedy legends/geniuses.
Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Fred Willard, Jennifer Coolidge, John Michael Higgins, Jane Lynch, Bob Balaban, Michael Hitchcock, Larry Miller, Ed Begley Jr.
The Mockumentary style works so well with retro scripting because you can set up scenes and shoot your actors improvising so you could end up shooting 60+ hours of footage for the film. Then just like assembling a documentary you sift through the footage looking for the gold and assemble the film to tell the story you have set out to tell.
I feel the story is key to these films being so good. It is the core script being crafted by Christopher Guest & Eugene Levy mapping out the necessary beats and knowing what needs to happen in the film to have a satisfying narrative for the viewer that is why these films just work so well. A film would not work just being cobbled together from hours and hours of improv comedy it would just be a horrible nightmare.
“Waiting for Guffman” (1996)
Directed by Christopher Guest, Written by Christopher Guest & Eugene Levy, Produced by Karen Murphy, Music by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Cinematography Roberto Schaefer, Edited by Andy Blumenthal.
Starring, Bob Balaban, Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Fred Willard, Lewis Arquette and Matt Keeslar.
When the town of Blaine, Missouri approaches its sesquicentennial, there's only one way to celebrate: with a musical revue called "Red, White and Blaine." Hoping the show will be his ticket back to Broadway, impresario Corky St. Clair rounds up a cast of enthusiastic but untalented locals to perform in his masterwork. But, when Corky reveals that theatre agent Mort Guffman will attend the opening, things really kick into high gear.
The film's title is a reference to Samuel Beckett’s existentialist tragic comedy play
“Waiting for Godot” in case that passed anyone by.
This is Guest’s first Mockumentary in the director's chair and sets the template for his best work that is still to come—developing “the script” with Eugene Levy and assembling this killer cast. I really do enjoy this film having personally spent 20 years of my life being in some way involved in the world of amateur dramatics as absurd as this film seems it is also terrifyingly accurate.
“Best in Show” (2000)
Directed by Christopher Guest, Written by Christopher Guest & Eugene Levy, Produced by Karen Murphy, Music by C. J. Vanston, Cinematography Roberto Schaefer, Edited by Robert Leighton.
Starring, Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Jennifer Coolidge, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, John Michael Higgins, Parker Posey, Michael Hitchcock & Fred Willard.
The tension is palpable, the excitement is mounting and the heady scent of competition is in the air as hundreds of eager contestants from across America prepare to take part in what is undoubtedly one of the greatest events of their lives -- the Mayflower Dog Show.
The idea for making this film comes from a real-life experience when Guest was walking his dog who was a scruffy mongrel and they encountered a woman walking a purebred show dog she acted like Christopher's dog was a mutant and seemed devastated she had to be seeing it. Guest obviously had a moment where he realised that the dog show world must be brimming with weirdos! The film follows the owners of five dogs entering a prestigious dog show.
Everyone is great in this film Guest himself as Harlan Pepper with his bloodhound Hubert are a delight. The interaction between Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara is tremendous in this film… well they always are great together. A performance that can not go unmentioned is the late great Fred Willard who plays Buck Laughlin who seems to be a gun-for-hire commentator with a background in sports broadcasting that is suddenly in the world of high-end dog shows is unbelievably funny.
“A Mighty Wind” (2003)
Directed by Christopher Guest, Written by Christopher Guest & Eugene Levy, Produced by Karen Murphy, Music by Christopher Guest, Cinematography by Arlene Nelson and Edited by Robert Leighton
Starring, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Jane Lynch, John Michael Higgins, Jane Lynch, Parker Posey, Bob Balaban & Fred Willard.
With the passing of legendary folk music manager and record producer Irving Steinbloom, his adult children want to put on a televised memorial concert for their father in The Town Hall New York City. The main problem is the three most famous acts he discovered: The Folksmen, The New Main Street Singers, and Mitch & Mickey have sunk into relative obscurity or disbanded. As the show approaches, stage fright sets in and old romances may be rekindled. Will the show go off without a hitch? I doubt it!
This film is as close as Guest has got to capturing the magic of “This is Spinal Tap” fusing the comedy interactions and comedy songs. The songs are not just funny lyrically but the arrangements are funny and lampoon folk music troupes that demonstrate a deep understanding of the musical genre. Stand-out performances in this, you have Bob Balaban as Jonathan Steinbloom the deeply neurotic son of the late Irving Steinbloom who is trying to organise the concert keeping a close eye on health and safety. The Folksmen are being played by Guest, McKean and Shearer aka “Spinal Tap” so the dynamic and comedy between these three throughout the majority of this is just fantastic. Catherine O'Hara & Eugene Levy are as always amazing and their plot line is the real heart of the piece. Jane Lynch, Parker Posey & Fred Willard are all bringing their A-game here.
“For Your Consideration” (2006)
Directed by Christopher Guest, Written by Christopher Guest & Eugene Levy Produced by Karen Murphy, Music by C. J. Vanston, Cinematography by Roberto Schaefer, Edited by Robert Leighton.
Starring Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Bob Balaban, Jennifer Coolidge, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, John Michael Higgins, Harry Shearer, Parker Posey & Fred Willard.
The possibility of an Oscar nomination holds the cast and crew of an independent film in its grip after the performance of its virtually unknown, veteran star somehow manages to generate awards buzz. Even though the movie in question, "Home for Purim," is impossibly awful, the rumours of future nominations snowball and attract the attention of a distributor who wants to make a few "minor" changes.
In all honestly, this is my least favourite of these four films and lacks the charm of the other three and is more pointed due to it being a comedy satire of the ridiculousness of the Hollywood Hype Machine it is unmistakably a Guest film but not a Mockumentary. Some lacklustre performances but the core players are good as always.
As with everything nowadays they are being reassessed by a new generation and Guest has drawn a lot of criticism for his work. As always! I respect everyone’s opinion. I just want to make my feelings felt about the type of criticism being hurled at these movies and Guest himself.
People say Guest’s films are “Cruel” and “Punching Down”.
Successful, suave, competent, successful people tend not to be funny! Guest & Levy are mining a scenario for comedy gold.
There are a lot of different kinds of people depicted in his films and many are hapless types who are obsessed with something or just strive to achieve some kind of fame regardless of the level of actual talent they possess. Naritivly in his films the characters tend not to succeed in the long term and the ones we meet who believed their own hype end up worse off or even more deluded.
I feel this message is bound to fall flat to generations who think social media influencer is a valid job option or becoming a music star is an award from a TV talent show.
The real world is full of people with really boring normal lives but they have that “One Thing” a show dog, the desire to quit a day job and become an actor even though they have no real talent, People who were once in a band who had a sniff of success and dream of coming back. the list goes on.
I feel what grates on some people about these films is they completely ignore the convention that the characters that we are introduced to in the comedy must triumph over adversity. Guest and Levy remove that and replace it with a heavy dose of reality. For many people life goes on with no glitz, No Glamour you are in a play on Saturday night and you are back to work on Monday morning.
These films have a sting in the tale “a denuma” A “Six Months Later card” appears on screen and we get a sequence showing us where the characters we have just followed ended up. This is the aspect of his films that is easy to see as cruel. I take solace in the fact these are not real people. In the case of “A Mighty Wind” I can just stop the film after the big music number at the end of the concert because of the transphobia that is shoehorned in at the end of “A Mighty Wind” is there and I chose just not to watch now. You could argue “it was 2003” but it still feels like a low blow.
But karma is a thing! I am sure Guest would not include any transphobia if he were to make a film today. If you know… you know.
People have flagged the gay couple in “Best in Show” as homophobic. I disagree, They are a same-sex couple who appear to be in love and are massively less dysfunctional than other couples in the film and they seem to be living their best life. They care about showing their dog. They have a good relationship at the start and are fine at the end of the film and for a Christopher Guest movie, they are lucky. The actors are straight playing gay but at the end of the day, that is acting.
The films of Christopher Guest have been incredibly influential. Ricky Gervais totally ripped off Guest to create “The Office” which led to the massively successful American Office series that ushered in the mainstream popularity of pseudo-documentary comedy and we got Parks and Recreation… I saw a 2023 film called “Theater Camp” recently that definitely would not exist in that form if it wasn’t for the legacy of Guest.
That was a bit of a rollercoaster… thanks if you got through that.
I recommend watching
“Best in Show” (2000)
Available to rent on Amazon Prime or Apple TV for £3.49
Currently available to buy on DVD from HMV for £4.99
“A Mighty Wind” (2003)
Available to rent on Amazon Prime or Apple TV for £3.49
Currently out of print on dvd / Blu-ray but look on ebay, world of books, music magpie.
“Waiting for Guffman” (1996)
Available to rent on Amazon Prime or Apple TV for £3.49
Available on Blu-ray from HMV for £9.99
(Prices correct at time of publish)
