When you go to a Christopher Guest film, you know what you're going to get.
By Austin Davidson

Normally the biggest factors drawing a person to a film are star or story - the promise of a Richard Gere or a high speed car chase, but there are a select few movies that can draw people in based on the merits of the director. When you go to a Christopher Guest film, you know what you’re going to get. There will be moments of well-observed truth, moments of improvised hilarity, and characters with lofty ambitions always just out of their reach. After a series of cult comic mockumentaries, Guest is the American auteur any ordinary average filmgoer has become savvy of and can identify after watching five minutes of one of his films. He delivers a solid product and this time out the product has been slightly modified, but continues his trend of delivering big laughs and wildly idiosyncratic characters.

For Your Consideration is a slight departure from Guest’s previous work, but still highly identifiable with his trademark fly on the wall camera and regular troupe of improv players. Gone are the documentary interviews and cut away gags, replaced with a smaller ensemble and a more intimate tale. The story follows the cast and crew on the set of Home For Purim, a low budget indie “message film” and how the talent reacts to the Oscar buzz that mysteriously pops up around their performances. Catherine O’Hara as Marilyn Hack is the nucleus of the film, an aging actress who thinks she’s finally been recognized for her work. Parker Posey is Callie Webb, another buzz worthy actress in the film sharing an on-set romance with her on-screen brother Brian Chubb (Christopher Moynihan), a romance (seemingly) built on professional and mutual respect. Harry Shearer is Victor Alan Miller, a D level actor who could (again, seemingly) care less about the industry. Eugene Levy, co-writer of the film and Guest regular, is Morley Orfkin, Victor’s negligent agent who starts taking notice once his client’s name and the word “nomination” begin popping up alongside each other in the trades.

The film lampoons award season madness with a subtle hand, mostly focusing on the shift in the actors from humble to self-important. Tracking the “buzz” on Home For Purim’s actors and serving as a Greek chorus to the story are Fred Willard and Jane Lynch as Access Hollywood style entertainment reporters who are this close to strangling each other every time they’re on screen together. Willard knocks one out of the park as Chuck Porter, the inappropriate, out of touch correspondent who sports a “Faux-Hawk” hair style, an orange fake tan, and glossy lips. Jane Lynch’s hilarious reactions to Willard’s blunt comments are some to look out for.

For Your Consideration lacks the heart of the last three films, leaning more heavily on tragi-comic elements. The actors really fall on hard times in this story. No one gets out of the situation clean. “What about me?” becomes the big question of the story as egos inflate and vanity takes control. Christopher Guest hasn’t lost his knack for documenting well observed human behavior and parodying our biggest flaws for all to laugh at. This time around, the flaws are font and center and the dark side of human nature is under the microscope. There is a fine line between tragedy and comedy, but Guest manages a nice tightrope act in a story that lacks the warmth of his previous films, but not the funny.

For Your Consideration is rated PG12 and currently playing.