Movie Notes: For Your Consideration

April 5th, 2008

For Your Consideration

= 2 stars

Starring Catherine O’Hara, Harry Shearer, Parker Posey
Directed by Christopher Guest

Synopsis

The cast of the sadly sub-par movie Home For Purin mistakenly believes they will all be nominated for Academy Awards.

The Good

Fred Willard and Jane Lynch launch the most zingers as satirical entertainment television hosts.
Catherine O’Hara is expectedly solid and contributes some appropriately sad / funny scenes, a late night talk show appearance “botoxed” up and a drunk interview.

The Bad

I think there are too many characters. The core ensemble – save for O’Hara – never really establish their characters. Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy barely exist, and Parker Posey is sadly restrained despite looking like Katherine Hepburn / Judy Garland.
Guest seems more interested in skewering Hollywood conventions (screenplay writers, press junkets, agents, publicity, and marketing) than creating funny, memorable, or hearfelt characters as in previous Guest-mockumentaries.

Conclusion

Although Best In Show is one of my favorite comedies, For Your Consideration didn’t do it for me. The ensemble improv thing felt a bit thin – returning to a small core group of characters might be a better strategy. In the inevitable comparison to Guest’s other classic flicks (Waiting For Guffman, Best In Show, and A Mighty Wind), I’d say For Your Consideration isn’t even in the running.

IMBD: For Your Consideration
Wikipedia: For Your Consideration