[Frederica-l] NRO: For Your Consideration

[Frederica at aol.com]

The new Christopher Guest movie opens today in some cities, and everywhere on 
Weds. It's pretty funny, though the ending is a bit sour. Worth going, 
though, over the holiday weekend. 

here's the URL:

http://www.frederica.com/writings/for-your-consideration.html


************
For Your Consideration
 
Here's a riddle: When do you leave a Christopher Guest movie feeling glum and 
discouraged? 
 
When it's not funny? No, "For Your Consideration" is by no means a dud. Fans 
of Guest's recent films will find plenty of the same character-based 
absurdities here. It's hilarious. Right up until the last fifteen minutes. 
 
Just to recap, Guest made his name as the innovator of a comic genre, the 
"mocumentary" (a term he despises). His recent films were fake documentaries that 
sparkled with absurd improvised dialogue. And each of his recent films has 
been about people preparing for a show. 
 
In "Waiting for Guffman" (1996), the citizens of Blaine, Missouri planned, 
rehearsed, and presented a hokey musical pageant. "Best in Show" (2000) tracked 
a handful of disparate dog-owners as they converged on a prestigious national 
competition. And in "A Mighty Wind" (2003) several folk-music acts, out of the 
limelight for decades, hastily prepared to put on a Carnegie Hall concert. 
 
In each of these stories, the plot payoff is that we get to see a show - the 
production that all the previous foolishness has been skittering around. And 
in each case, the results are not solely buffoonery. There is an element of 
sweetness. You're glad to see the good guys get some good desserts. 
 
My guess is that "For Your Consideration" started out the same way. This 
time, we're following the cast and crew and promoters and hangers-on as a 
Hollywood movie is being made. "For Your Consideration" is not strictly a mocumentary, 
because Guest has dispensed with the on-camera interviews; but he's 
substituted scenes in which reporters do interviews, so the effect is similar. 
 
The movie being filmed is titled "Home for Purim." It's a gas. Rachel Pisher 
has not been home for 12 years, but she promises to come this time because her 
mom, Esther, is dying. Dad and younger brother Sam are anxiously awaiting her 
arrival. By the way, "Home for Purim" is set during WW II, so Sam is wearing 
a sailor suit. Though he left the rest of his buddies doing battle in "the 
Galapagos Islands," he'll stay as long as needed, because "the Navy is very 
understanding about sickness and death." His dad murmurs that this is a kind thing 
for Sam to do, a mitzvah. Sam protests: "It ain't no dang mitzvah, Daddy!" Oh 
yeah, "Home for Purim" is set in the shady-porched, wisteria-twined Deep 
South. 
 
But when Rachel arrives, she's accompanied by a (polite cough) "friend" named 
Mary Pat Hooligan. Mary Pat wears a subdued pants suit, no makeup, and a 
severe expression. When Sam asks if she lives near Rachel, she tells him that they 
sleep in the same bed. Will Esther be able to take this crushing revelation? 
As a character later notes, "Dying is easy. Playing a lesbian is hard." 
 
You can see that Guest and his buddies put a lot of thought into "Home for 
Purim;" it even has an original Guest-written theme song, not to mention its own 
pitch-perfect website. 
http://wip.warnerbros.com/foryourconsideration/homeforpurim/  
 
And as you picture Guest's usual cast, you can begin slotting in the regulars 
like a desk clerk sorting mail: Catherine O'Hara as actress Marilyn Hack 
(portraying Esther Pisher), Harry Shearer as actor Victor Allan Miller (Dad 
Pisher), Parker Posey as Callie Webb (Rachel Pisher), Christopher Moynihan as Brian 
Chubb (Sam Pisher), and Rachael Harris as Debbie Gilchrist (Mary Pat 
Hooligan).  
 
The rest of the gang show up in all the roles necessary to film, produce, 
promote and critique a Hollywood movie. If you've been looking forward to seeing 
them again, they're here: Eugene Levy (who also co-wrote with Guest), Ed 
Begley Jr., John Michael Higgins, Jennifer Coolidge, Don Lake, Michael Hitchcock, 
Bob Balaban, Michael McKean, Fred Willard, Jane Lynch, Larry Miller ... well, 
you begin to see a problem. There are some astonishingly talented folks here, 
but there sure are a lot of them. Many fill roles that are only tangentially 
connected to the plot. Few get the screen time they deserve. 
 
The pros make the most of it: Jane Lynch co-hosts a TV show with Fred 
Willard, and one scene opens with a shot of her standing on the set. I can't explain 
it, but just the way she is *standing* is hilarious. Jennifer Coolidge again 
plays the oversized, over-dressed, surreal blonde ditz, and has never been 
better. Here she is trying to tell a flirtacious Ricky Gervais the kind of 
restaurant she likes best: "Latesian..." ("Latino?") "No...Lesion..." ("That's, um, a 
wound.") "No... it's people who speak Latin." 
 
Don Lake and Michael Hitchcock make a great visual contrast as the "Love It" 
and "Hate It" film critic duo; Hitchcock has never looked so unrelievedly 
furious. And John Michael Higgins is great as a studio PR exec who is unfamiliar 
with the "world wide interweb," who conveys information "in further 
particulariness," and who warns a reporter: "Inside every actor there is a Tiger, a Pig, 
an Ass, and a Nightingale. You never know which one is going to show up." 
 
But the "Home for Purim" centerpiece has a rationale and energy that "For 
Your Consideration" lacks. What did Guest intend to do with this setup? Did he 
try different approaches, and land here when all else failed? At any rate, it's 
a movie that ends on a down note - even with a flash of cruelty, which leaves 
a sour taste. Until that point, though, it's consistently funny. Inside 
Christopher Guest there is a parodist, a musician, an actor, a director, a writer, 
and a wild card. You never know which one is going to show up. 

********
Frederica Mathewes-Green
www.frederica.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.ctcnet.net/pipermail/frederica-l/attachments/20061117/2ffbb96e/attachment.htm