What do you get when you put together an ensemble of dry-humored comedians, an almost non-existent script and ridiculously quirky looking and acting characters? Another impromptu driven Christopher Guest film: “For Your Consideration.” A Warner Independent Picture, “For Your Consideration” is the latest film from actor, director and writer Christopher Guest and co-writer and actor Eugene Levy.
The story centers on the idiosyncrasies of a cast filming an independent film, “Home for Purim,” and the drama that proceeds when an Internet-generated rumor becomes industrially circulated, indicating that Marilyn Hack (Catherine O’Hara), Victor Allen Miller (Harry Shearer), and Callie Webb (Parker Posey) performances are award-worthy. The film satires and illustrates the foolishly outrageous side of the entertainment industry in which the actors’ love for the art of making film is superseded by their desire to win an award.
“It’s a luxury and a curse to be carried away with something,” Posey said. “All of his movies have that kind of carried-away feeling, people who get really caught up with their passions. There’s a lot of heartbreak and humor in them because they’re very intense and serious about what they believe.”
This film joins the lineup of his past mockumentaries, “Waiting for Guffman,” “Best in Show” and “A Mighty Wind.” “For your Consideration” is the first of his shot-documentary stylized films that incorporates more of a fictional format of filming by utilizing extreme close-ups and over-the-shoulder shots.
The script for this film was approximately 15 pages, leaving room for the actors to improvise throughout most of the film.
“I shot these movies in 27 days. I edit for nearly a year. These are small films and because they are, I get full control of it,” Guest said.
The star-studded cast includes the same actors from Guest’s past films such as himself, Jennifer Coolidge, Fred Willard, Michael McKean, Bob Balaban, John Michael Higgins, Jane Lynch, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara and Harry Shearer with a splash of newcomers including Ricky Gervais, from the hit British show “The Office.”
“For Your Consideration” takes a comedic look at the pretentious side of the entertainment industry and the media’s ability to sensationalize actors’ lives and complicate story lines. Although the actors entertainingly depict characters’ egos hyped on buzz, the storyline becomes a bit dreary with empty spaces filled with impromptu that calls for forced laughter.
More than half of the film centers around the making of “Home for Purim” and on-set film industry realities. Then, it makes a jump right to the nominations. The scene transitions in the film seemed directionless at times. Like many of Guest’s movies, there are some members of the cast that tickle one’s funny bone more than the next. But unlike many of his other films, “For Your Consideration” is more than just his “regulars,” but a bombardment of too many well-known faces.
“I think everyone can relate. The public now is pretty hip about what goes on behind the scenes,” Willard said. “They’ll laugh at the little vanities that people have and the inter-actor fighting when a couple of them are nominated for awards and one or two others are a bit jealous. And then they say it’s all about the work. I think the audience will like that.”
If you are a fan of past Guest films, you may find this one is somewhat amusing. If not, be prepared for short-lived laughs and 86 minutes of thumb circling.
“For Your Consideration” opens in theaters tomorrow.
