Arch satirist Christopher Guest (THIS IS SPINAL TAP, BEST IN SHOW) brings more mirth to the screen, providing an inimitable take on the film industry with FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION. The plot follows the cast and crew of a fictional movie called HOME FOR PURIM, which is directed by Jay Berman (played by Guest himself) and stars an aging actress at the end of her career, Marilyn Hack (Catherine O'Hara); an actor best known for starring in a hotdog ad, Victor Allen Miller (Harry Shearer); and young Callie Webb (Parker Posey), who is trying to put her VAGINA MONOLOGUES-esque past (in a production called NO PENIS INTENDED) firmly behind her. As Berman and Co. attempt to bring HOME FOR PURIM to the screen, a variety of supporting players flits in and out of the movie, with Ricky Gervais and Jennifer Coolidge appearing as two very different producers, Jane Lynch and Fred Willard playing the glitzy hosts of trashy celebrity-obsessed TV show HOLLYWOOD NOW, and Bob Balaban appearing as a frustrated co-writer. This motley bunch all get along just fine until an Oscar buzz surrounds certain cast members, leading to a fierce explosion of wildly different ideas and ambitions for the film.
Fans of Guest's movies will doubtless experience a welcome familiarity in the feel of FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION. The usual deadpan wit, carefully crafted satire, and close attention to detail in everything from Fred Willard's haircut to the computer graphics of HOLLYWOOD NOW are all lovingly rendered, and Guest's loyal troupe of performers--as well as a sprinkling of new faces--delivers the material with habitual ease. In an era when most Hollywood comedy sticks to a strict, well-trodden formula, it's satisfying to find someone like Guest plowing a lonely furrow against the grain, and there's enough spark in FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION to suggest he still has plenty of wit yet to bestow on his faithful audience.
Theatrical Release: November 17, 2006
DVD Features:
Keep Case
Widescreen - 1.77
Single Side - Dual Layer
Audio:
Dolby Surround 5.1 - English
Subtitles - English, French, Latin, Spanish - Optional
Subtitles - English - Closed Captioned
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentaries - Christopher Guest - Director/Co-Writer; Eugene Levy - Star/Co-Writer
Featurettes
Trailers - Theatrical Trailers
Text/Photo Galleries:
Galleries - HOME FOR PURIM Posters
Screenplay
Christopher Guest: American Actor/Comedian/Director
Screenplay
Eugene Levy: SCTV alumnus
Director of Photography
Roberto Schaefer: Cinematographer
Review 1:
"[C]hockfull of the low-key charm, smart performances and understated humor that characterize Guest's work....His regular cast of actors and a few new ones...bring their best to the table."
Source: Box Office
p.102 11/01/2006
Review 2:
"Truly, the level of tender, ruthless, inspired, lethally accurate study that has gone into the follicular expression of each and every character in Christopher Guest's latest hilarious cultural corrective is something inspiring to behold." -- Grade: A-
Source: Entertainment Weekly
81 11/24/2006
Review 3:
3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Catherine O'Hara is comic perfection....O'Hara deserves Oscar consideration in her funniest, fiercest role."
Source: Rolling Stone
p.124 11/30/2006
Review 4:
4 stars out of 5 -- "[The film] fills it to the brim with a rib-bothering assemblage of asides, observations, in-jokes...plus some of the funniest fashion and personal-grooming errors you'll see this year."
Source: Total Film
p.44 03/01/2007
Review 5:
"[I]t's a droll dissection of Oscarmania....Catherine O'Hara and Harry Shearer are both riotous and touching..."
Source: Movieline's Hollywood Life
p.103 11/01/2006
Review 6:
4 stars out of 5 -- "[The filmmakers] dispatch their slow-moving target with graceful ruthlessness....[With] the sureness of touch that comes of knowing, even quite liking, the subject of one's scorn."
Source: Uncut
p.117 03/01/2007
Review 7:
"With its patient, watchful camerawork and unhurried pace, the film has a discreet, low-key elegance that makes a refreshing change from the loud, fast-tempo demands of most other Hollywood comedies."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.55 03/01/2007