Improvising to Broadway

Twenty years ago, Christopher Guest teamed up with two buddies, created the fake rock band Spinal Tap and made a hilarious fake documentary about the band, called "This is Spinal Tap." \nMany people were confused about whether the rock-metal band existed because of how realistic this film was. Guest then did it again with his mockumentary about small-time theater life in Blaine, Missouri, "Waiting for Guffman."\n"Guffman" was just released on DVD because of its huge cult following after its original release in 1996. The film is about the sequisentennial festival in Blaine and the biographical theater representation of the city's history with the show, "Red, White and Blaine." \nThe musical is written and directed by Corky St. Clair (Guest), a stereotypical male theater performer who is considered an amazing dramatical visionary solely because he lived in New York. Corky sends out invitations to Broadway producers hoping to get a spot for the show on the famous street. Producer Mort Guffman agrees, and the rest is about how to perfect this show so they can "make it there."\nThe film had no script and was entirely improvised. Because of this, the DVD adds many of the deleted scenes that did not make it into the original film simply because they had so much to use already. More than 30 minutes of new footage is on the disc with three extra "Red, White and Blaine" scenes. The music, lyrics and dancing are hilarious and were actually all written by Spinal Tap's Guest, Harry Shearer and Michael McKean.\nThe commentary by Guest and Eugene Levy (most famous for being Jim's dad in the "American Pie" movies) is pretty good, better than most, but the two spend a lot of time just watching and enjoying the film they made. They add funny stories about different stuff they tried to do with the film, but only offer limited insight. \nThis was Guest's second full-length mockumentary followed by his third last year, "Best in Show," a hilarious look at dog shows. Hopefully, he will provide more to come in the future. With every viewing of this film, you will see something you haven't before, making it the perfect DVD to watch over and over again.