Movie Notes: For Your Consideration

April 5th, 2008

= 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