Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here. It seems to me that a lot of the coverage coming out of Toronto and Venice seems to be very cynical and jaded and discouraging about the films being shown, but it sounds like regular viewers who are seeing these films are really enjoying themselves. Sure, we’ve read reports about some people booing at the first Venice screening of THE FOUNTAIN, but how many places have reported the ten-minute standing ovation the film got the following night at its public screening? I’ve heard some mixed reactions to this one so far, but expectation can be a killer, and Christopher Guest and this cast have some big shoes to fill based on their previous films together. Let’s see what they’re up to now...
Hello Harry & co. First-time reviewer here. I recently got the chance to see Christopher Guests' latest improv (well, 90% improv) comedy "For Your Consideration". And before I say anything else, I gotta hand it to rush lines-they really do help. Hoorah. Was my first time at TIFF ever, and my first time that I've been to an advanced screening. Before the show began, Guest came out, talked a bit, and introduced the rest of the cast. And the rest, as they say, is history. I should probably let some people in on the plot of FYC before I actually do the reviewing part. The film focuses on the cast and crew of a small film called "Home for Purim", about a dying Mother and the rest of her family as they come home for the Jewish Holiday Purim. Starring in the film-within-a-film is Maralyn Hack (Catherine O'Hara, in top form), a struggling actress. Parker Posey, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Moynihan. Half-way through production, Hack receives word of an internet rumour that her performance could earn her an Academy Award. Posey and Shearers' characters also get word that they too could be walking down the red carpet. The film follows the cast and crew as they make their way towards awards season, and shows us their highs and lows. I just learned that plot outlines are really hard to do. Anyways, as for FYC; it's great. The funniest film I've seen all year (inches by Little Miss Sunshine). Guest truly is gifted when it comes to the comedy genre, and now he can put this on his resume as well. One thing that is noticably different here than from Guests' previous works is the fact that he doesn't use a Mochumentary format. I was initially worried about this, but it all turns out fine. Those who *really* loved the "interviews" with the characters of the past films need not worry; the cast is interviewed in this movie as well, only we see the interviewers. FYC really pleases the crowd in that at the beginning of the movie you chuckle, but by the end it has you in stitches. The theatre I saw it with loved every minute of it; there were uproars of laughter even we first saw certain characters. No actual jokes were needed. You can tell that Guest and the cast really have a ball doing this movie. They playfully rib Hollywood and everything associated with it, including two "Ebert and Roeper"-style critics, trashy entertainment tv shows, and more. O'Hara steals the show as the washed-up Maralyn Hack. She steals every scene she's in for the last third of the movie, but to give away any of it would be giving away one of the funniest things on film this year. Posey and Shearer are also very good, with Posey going from bizzare-comic actress in the first half to relatable in the second. She, along with much of the rest of the cast, is criminally underrated. Jennifer Coolidge is without a doubt one of the funniest women working. She can speak one word in a film and it would leave the audience in stitches, and it's no exception here. Playing the Heiress-turned-Producer of "Home for Purim", Coolidge is given a lot more to do here compared to the little time she had in A Mighty Wind. Eugene Levy and John Michael Higgins are both equally hilarious, but the two who had everybody laughing all the time are Fred Willard and Jane Lynch, both playing hosts of a trashy Entertainment show. From Willards' bleached fauxhawk to Lynchs' almost-scary robotic movements, these two chewed up the scenery and had the audience loving them. I guess that's pretty much it. My first review, so be gentle. I kind of suck at this so far, and reviewing a comedy isn't easy, but oh well. Hope to write back soon, keep up the good work. -NeedsaNickName.
