For Your Consideration: Grade B

B

For Your Consideration (2006)

Eugene Levy, Parker Posey, Catherine O’Hara, Fred Willard, Sandra Oh, others. Director Christopher Guest.

Here is another mockumentary in the tradition of A Mighty Wind, this time satirizing the movie industry, an easy target. A drama called “Home for Purim,” a Jewish holiday, set in the American South, is being filmed. Its abominably hammy scenes go well past parody into sophomoric stupidity. But the interactions among actors, agents, directors, producers, publicists, and entertainment media people are rib-ticklingly clever. There are also plenty of visual jokes, from har-har gags to sharp satire, as when Catherine O’Hara’s character is revised from a handsome middle aged woman to a painfully desperate California youth manqué. Fred Willard as an entertainment reporter is a pleasure to watch. There are plenty of laughs to keep you engaged, but this genre is becoming obvious and tired.