For Your Consideration

Improv Troop Loses Heart

Christopher Guest and crew have enjoyed improvising on cliques like community theater (Waiting for Guffman) and the competitive dog show circuit (Best in Show). The cast's love of these misfits shine through in their performances and we all got to laugh at the quirky and varied impersonations we saw. Unfortunately Guest has shifted his focus to those he feels a bit less love for like the folksingers in A Mighty Wind. In For Your Consideration, he shifts attention to those his has certain disdain for, L.A. actors, and the Hollywood system he hates. The familiar cast of characters contribute. Catherine O'Hara is the older, insecure actress who has made a living with her craft but still feels pressure to keep young and find fame. Parker Posey acts a bit neurotic as the supporting actress. Jennifer Coolidge plays the ditzy blonde she's been in every on-screen appearance. Ed Begley Jr. plays a maybe gay hairdresser. Fred Willard is a complete jerk as a tabloid TV reporter with Jane Lynch serving as his Mary Hart. The most annoying of the cast is Eugene Levy as the obnoxious, incompetent agent for the lead actor Victor, played surprisingly well and restrained by Harry Shearer. The premise of the film is that four marginal actors are in a small film called Home for Purim and behind-the-scene buzz is that the lead actress might be up for an Oscar nod. Heads swell, marketing folks get involved, actors go on the talk-show circuit, and the title changes to Home for Thanksgiving to satisfy the multitudes. After all the stereotypical jokes - old actresses getting bad plastic surgery, having to do bad commercials dressed as a hot dog, writers fighting with directors, producers who don't know shit - nothing original or funny is left. One of the most annoying elements of this parody was the Yiddish sprinkled throughout to hint at who is running the show. Guest and entourage just don't love the characters they are portraying and it shows. Not even guest appearances by Sandra Oh or Ricky Gervais could save this heartless mockery of the Hollywood system. Sadly I think struggling actors, those willing to perform bad one-woman shows, teach wanna-be starlets, or take cheesy commercials, are worthy of something better. These are good people, doing what they love, and surprisingly able to make a living at it even if fame and glamor isn't in their grasp. So where is the funny valentine to those unknown stars?