In Hollywood, he’s just a Guest

By Kylie Wakefield
Collegian Staff
December 6, 2006

There really is no business like show business. Christopher Guest proves this in his new mockumentary film, For Your Consideration. Guest, who has been making uproarious and loosely-scripted films since the ’80s, returns with yet another gem to add to his collection.

For Your Consideration follows Guest’s formulaic story: kooky characters striving towards some type of outlandish goal, with all sorts of mishaps occurring along the rocky road. In Best in Show, several pooch owners worked their way towards winning the coveted “May Fair Kennel Dog Show” award. In A Mighty Wind, folk singers wished to gain back their stardom via a reunion concert. In his latest, members on a movie set are riled up with hopes of receiving an Oscar. The usual cast of actors, including Eugene Levy, Parker Posey, Catherine O’Hara, Harry Shearer, Jennifer Coolidge and Guest himself, prove that they can still hilariously improvise their lines.

Guest takes us on a journey through the movie business — its ups, downs and utter absurdity. He plays the director of Home for Purim, a melodramatic and overacted film about a southern Jewish family, the Pischers. O’Hara plays Marilyn Hack, a starry-eyed actress anticipating her big break for her role as the ailing, bed-stricken Pischer mother. Posey is Callie Webb, a stand-up comedian who is ready to shine as O’Hara’s closeted daughter.

Brian Chubb, the military Pischer son, is played by Christopher Moynihan, who is jealous of his girlfriend Webb’s “talent.” Shearer, the Home for Purim husband and father, is Victor Allan Miller, a veteran actor and mascot for Weiner dogs.

After a rumor spreads on the Internet (or, as referred to by the older characters, the “interweb”) about an Academy Award nomination for Hack, a “buzz” goes around the movie set. The actors, writers and director become even more excited when other rumors flourish, including a nomination for Webb and perhaps even for Best Picture. Guest delves into the darker aspects of Hollywood by poking fun at this certain “buzz.” He shows how it drives people to almost insanity, taunting thespians, writers and directors alike.

While For Your Consideration is a must-see for any Guest fan, it doesn’t quite measure up to his other first-rate films. The jokes are a bit too concentrated on a few subjects (well, just the movie business and Judaism), so they tend to go over your head if you’re not associated with those groups. But when the jokes are universal, they do please.

Jane Lynch and Fred Willard, who play zealous Entertainment Tonight-esque hosts, give the funniest performances in the film. From the ridiculous outfits they wear to the way they interrupt their interviewees, Willard and Lynch receive laughs with nearly every line they deliver. The ludicrousness and satire of their characters alone makes For Your Consideration worth watching.

The fatal flaw of the film is that it’s too centered on the industry, therefore it doesn’t necessarily appeal to wider audiences. But it’s still funnier than most films out these days, in the charming Christopher Guest sort of way.

wakefieldk1@lasalle.edu