For Your Consideration (Widescreen)

I've never seen any of Christopher Guest's work but "For Your Consideration" shouldn't be considered for much, other than a poorly cast misfire not quite eligible for a razzie. The story revolves around several characters all involved in one way or another with the making of a film in Hollywood. We see parts of the film being shot interspersed with snippets from a fake "Entertainment Tonight"-like show. Some of the main characters in the film within the film soon generate a bit of Oscar buzz and hopes and desires are brought to true life as the day of nomination announcements draw closer.

I found the whole thing to be pretty drab and unpolished. I get the jabs at Hollywood and its pretentious, procedural stiffness, but everything in the movie feels so fake and contrived that I just sat with my jaw open most of the time trying to figure out what is so not funny about all of this. The actors are so completely miscast that I wonder if Guest owes something to these people or does he just enjoy their company so much that he had to hire them for these roles, then mix them up to play completely the wrong parts. One example of this would be Fred Willard, who is usually hilarious for his boy-like, clueless nature playing an over the top entertainment show host that is so ridiculous that it isn't even funny. What is with that hair-do? It's not funny, it's just ridiculous. Most of the characters in this movie felt this way to me; including a horrible use of John Michael Higgins. This fact can be proven by the example of "The Office." His role was, although short, one of the best parts of the film. Maybe I should look into Guest's previous work so that I can better understand and familiarize with his work but it's unfortunate that I started off with this one.

Having seen Christopher Guest's other movies - Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind, Best in Show - I came in with expectations. His ensemble cast is re-invented in amusing ways, showing us the insides of a side of life that we don't always get to peer into.

What I found missing in Consideration is that the movie that they were making looked baaaaaad. In Spinal Tap, the invented band was quite good; A Mighty Wind gave us plausible folk acts - it all made for credible films, a very rich tapestry - you felt like these people belonged in what they were doing. Perhaps we are supposed to believe that any horrible movie made in Hollywood can get Oscar buzz. But for me it was too farcical, it was not believable that this movie and those performances would actually come close to getting nominated, or create buzz. So the believable aspect was missing.

From what I have read, this was not meant to be his usual mockumentary - but once you are used to his style, and you watch him use what is close to his usual formula - the same ensemble cast, similar devices, interwoven stories - it is hard to lose those expectations. It is like he only shifted a little bit, just left out the on-camera interviews - but the rest is there. I think if he had made the 'Home for Purim' look less ridiculous, it would have been on the same level as his previous movies.

There were many good moments and lines: Parker Posey's comment 'I don't act for trophies'. The ending was nice. Watching Catherine O'Hara after her 'work' was done was bizarre. The send-up of the ET hosts was fun. And Ed Begley Jr. as the make up artist was a stand-out.

Christopher Guest has vowed not to make any more mockumentaries. Well, that's technically true: "For Your Consideration" has no talking-to-the-camera moments.

But while Guest has abandoned the mockumentary format -- as shown in movies like "Waiting for Guffman" and "A Mighty Wind" -- he hasn't lost his knack for hysterical comedy and intensely quirky characters. It's less intimate than his prior movies, but still skewers the entire entertainment industry, piece by piece.

As the movie opens, several actors are shooting "Home For Purim," a Southern Jewish tearjerker entered on a dying matriarch and her fragmented family. Then a stagehand tells Marilyn Hack (Catherine O'Hara) that there are Web rumors about her receiving an Oscar. Suddenly buzz is building, and everyone is excited about the possibility of their tiny movie getting notice (and though that, their careers).

The Oscar buzz builds higher as the cast does publicity for "Home For Purim," and two more rumored nominations pop up. Two actors break up over potential Oscar stress, another goes on MTV-style shows, and the movie gets its theme changed to make it more "inclusive." The entire cast is on tenterhooks... but on nomination night, who is going to be the star?

Metafictional movies, and movies about makig movies, usually stink to high heaven. But Guest is the exception that proves the rule, as he mercilessly mocks E!-style journalism, critics, MTV, narcissistic producers, and even the Academy itself ("Give us all the awards -- we're FRENCH!").

Admittedly, this is not Guest at his best -- since the characters don't talk to the camera, they feel more distant. However, Guest has a knack for pathos mingled with biting satire. And best of all, these talented actors toss off improvised dialogue as if they were born to ("We don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater here. Because you'll just get a wet and critically injured baby!").

Most of the humor is because of the weird characters -- Eugene, Levy as a slimy agent, Jennifer Coolidge as a blonde bimbo producer, and Fred Willard as an obnoxious E!-style reporter with a silly faux-hawk (Ryan Seacrest, this is you in twenty years!). And keep an eye out for Ricky "The Office" Gervais as an exec determined to water down the movie.

And O'Hara is sublime here. Her portrayal of a resigned, aging actress who gets high on hope is both hilarious and tragic, and she's the one character that you cannot laugh at by the end. That face-lift freaks me out, though.

"For Your Consideration" will never win an Oscar -- the Academy doesn't have a sense of humor about itself. But while not Guest at the best, this is still hilariously funny.