For Your Consideration

Director: Christopher Guest

With his string of creative mockumentaries including Waiting for Guffman, Best In Show, and A Mighty Wind, the prolific and ingenious director Christopher Guest has become the director to envy when it comes to crafting intelligent comedies. In his latest offering, he teams up with his frequent cast mates (including Eugene Levy who shares his writing credit even though the films are improvised) who have become household names from their previous work with Guest such as Jennifer Coolidge, Bob Balaban, Harry Shearer, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey, John Michael Higgins, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean and Fred Willard along with new additions such as Sandra Oh and Ricky Gervais. O’Hara earned some critical awards for her inventive Norma Desmond-inspired turn as a veteran actress working on a low-budget independent film who learns that there’s been some online gossip regarding a possible Oscar nomination for her performance in the film, entitled Home For Purim. Soon, the entire set is in an uproar as the little bit of buzz grows into a gossiping hot storm when other cast members are speculated for accolades and an industry built on the phrase "For Your Consideration" begins to take notice. Incredibly funny but like his last film A Mighty Wind, Guest’s Consideration borders on the bittersweet and melodramatic in a few places but becomes even funnier on a second viewing. There are so many wonderful little scene stealing moments that it’s hard to select just one to highlight but pay special attention to Jane Lynch as an Entertainment Tonight styled TV hostess whose posture, hair flips, and forced dramatic delivery will send you giggling so hard you’ll need to rewind every scene she’s in. While O’Hara’s award from The National Board of Review ironically caused a bit of Oscar buzz as well (similar to the film), in the end she failed to get nominated as this one probably cuts a little too close to the bone regarding the industry’s obsession with Oscars.