Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14914 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-06-04
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 83 minutes

Synopsis
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 ploughing 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.

Customer Reviews

Quietly amusing mockumentary style satire of Hollywood
Christopher Guest set a high bar for mockumentaries, with the likes of Best in Show and of course, Spinal Tap. However, in his latest outing he fails to reach those heights, even if he makes a movie which is still intermittently mirthsome and has some heart to go with the satire.
The mockumentary style is toned down a little, making this a slightly more conventional film than usual. When the cast of has-beens and preening wannabes of a new B-movie `Home For Purim' find out that they are generating Oscar buzz, they start to believe the hype and act in increasingly erratic ways as their egos clash with the artificiality of Hollywood chat shows, agents, and producers.
There is definitely some genuine wit here - `Oscars - the backbone of an industry that doesn't have a backbone', but some characters work better than others, and there are few really scathing moments you'll remember long after the movie. (`French movies? Hate the subtitles... I keep thinking I am watching breaking news...').
Highlights include the truly dreadfully shallow Hollywood chat show presenters, and more especially the actors strained smiles as they listen to unforgivably crass questions coming their way. The moment when the show goes out to interview the `losers' who were not nominated is terrific, and seals the deal to turn warm smiles into chuckles for this reviewer. Best of all is the cameo from Ricky Gervais, the studio director who asks if it is possible to `tone down the Jewishness'.
A success then, worth watching, just not a rolling in the aisles laugh-fest.

What in the world
I've never seen any of Christopher Guest's work but "For Your Consideration" shouldn't be considered for much, other than a poorly cast misfire not quite eligible for a razzie. The story revolves around several characters all involved in one way or another with the making of a film in Hollywood. We see parts of the film being shot interspersed with snippets from a fake "Entertainment Tonight"-like show. Some of the main characters in the film within the film soon generate a bit of Oscar buzz and hopes and desires are brought to true life as the day of nomination announcements draw closer.

I found the whole thing to be pretty drab and unpolished. I get the jabs at Hollywood and its pretentious, procedural stiffness, but everything in the movie feels so fake and contrived that I just sat with my jaw open most of the time trying to figure out what is so not funny about all of this. The actors are so completely miscast that I wonder if Guest owes something to these people or does he just enjoy their company so much that he had to hire them for these roles, then mix them up to play completely the wrong parts. One example of this would be Fred Willard, who is usually hilarious for his boy-like, clueless nature playing an over the top entertainment show host that is so ridiculous that it isn't even funny. What is with that hair-do? It's not funny, it's just ridiculous. Most of the characters in this movie felt this way to me; including a horrible use of John Michael Higgins. This fact can be proven by the example of "The Office." His role was, although short, one of the best parts of the film. Maybe I should look into Guest's previous work so that I can better understand and familiarize with his work but it's unfortunate that I started off with this one.

Satirical Hollywood
The team behind A Mighty Wind and Best in Show return with this sly satirical take on how the 'buzz'on a movie can lead to all sorts of trouble.When the cast of the small Jewish themed movie Home for Purim start to find out that there is such a buzz on their movie the actors,producers and PR all start speculating what may happen.As the buzz grows what started as a gossip item on an internet web site gets into the mainstream and the local LA media start to take interest.
The usual suspects Christopher Guest,Gene Levy,Catherine O 'Hara,Harry Shearer are joined by the likes of Parker Posey and Ricky Gervais who plays a smarmy Hollywood studio 'suit' who wants the title of the movie changed to give it a wider audience.As the time passes the studio gets its way and the movie becomes Home for Thanksgiving and the actors involved veterans Marilyn Hack and Victor Allen Miller played by O'Hara and Shearer change from jobbing actors into semi-stars.

The main cast have done this thing before and are uniformely good and the ending set three months after the day of the Oscar nominations and the disappointments that are involved are also funny to anyone who has even a smidgen of knowledge of how Hollywood works.