For Your Consideration poster & wallpaper

Bob Balaban, Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy

Debut feature director Jay Berman steers cast and crew through a typically tumultuous independent film "Home for Purim," an intimate period drama about a Jewish family's turbulent reunion on the occas...( read more  read more... )ion of the dying matriarch's favorite holiday. When Internet-generated rumors begin circulating that three of the film's stars--faded luminary Marilyn Hack, journeyman actor and former hot dog pitchman Victor Allan Miller, and ingénue Callie Webb--may be perpetrating Award-worthy performances, a rumble of excitement rattles the cast. Once "Hollywood Now" anchors Chuck Porter and Cindy Martin pick up the buzz, Award fever infects the entire production. Unit publicist Corey Taft, talent agent Morley Orfkin, and producer Whitney Taylor Brown all smell the sudden potential for a sleeper hit. As does Sunfish Classics President Martin Gibb, who suggests some last-minute changes that he feels will broaden the film's appeal. Meanwhile, "Purim's" screenwriters, Lane Iverson and Philip Koontz, grow steadily more horrified as they watch the first film adaptation of their work diverge from their original story. As the hopeful "Purim" team careens toward the end of production and the upcoming Award season, tenuous relationships and brittle dreams play out in unexpected ways.

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44% liked it

16,176 ratings

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50% liked it

153 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 26 min.

Directed by: Christopher Guest

Release Date: November 17, 2006

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DVD Release Date: February 20, 2007

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Arden Myrin Eugene Levy as Morley Orfkin in For Your Consideration (2006) For Your Consideration Harry Shearer as Victor Allan Miller, Eugene Levy as Morley Orfkin and Larry Miller as Syd Finkleman in For Your Consideration (2006) Harry Shearer as Victor Allan Miller and Eugene Levy as Morley Orfkin in For Your Consideration (2006) Deborah Theaker in For Your Consideration (2006) For Your Consideration
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Flixster Reviews (1,794)

  • her69eyes
    July 26, 2009
    her69eyes
    Having intimately explored the subcultures of everything from heavy metal to dog shows in a faux documentary style, writer/director Christopher Guest abandons his innovative "mockumentaries" (a term which he rejects) and puts the wonderful familiar faces in a more typical picture...( read more) in "For Your Consideration". Although it's unfair to say that Guest is incapable of making funny "normal" movies, a few of his more standard efforts have been complete flops - he directed Chris Farley in "Almost Heroes", and now he's made this one.

    Guest's films are rarely critical of the people he's putting on display. Most of them are clueless, but his aging folk musicians and theater directors are endearing enough to root for. In this film, he sets his sights on a much broader and tired subject - Hollywood, and, more specifically, Oscar buzz. The star here, played by the great Catherine O'Hara, is so overwhelmed by the idea of winning an Academy Award that she doesn't know what to do with herself. Eventually she's making television appearances with plump lips and a face stretched so far it looks like a mask.

    "Bitter" isn't quite the right word, but in this film Guest certainly seems more angry and critical of the culture he's representing. Even in "Best in Show", in which many of the pet owners were conceited and rather despicable, we still got the sense that he respected this fascinating group of people. "For Your Consideration" does not laugh along at the absurd notion of Oscar buzz, but considers what it does to the recipients of what the media pegs as such a prestigious honor.

    Marilyn Hack (Catherine O'Hara) is an insecure actress who has been in the film industry for thirty years. Despite her tenure, she's yet to receive any attention and, although recognized, nobody can pinpoint exactly what she's been in. O'Hara, who has been great in countless character roles, is perhaps on a similar level - everybody loves her, but casual movie-goers will recognize her as "that lady from that one movie" if "Home Alone" slips their mind.

    When a writer visits the set of her latest film, "Home for Purim", he blogs that Marilyn Hack is an early candidate for an Oscar nomination. Eventually, the media machine gets behind this and the film generates buzz on an Entertainment Tonight spoof and even a parody of the Charlie Rose program. As her costars begin to gain attention as well, Hack desperately does whatever she can to remain in the spotlight and begins to transform her face with plastic surgery.

    Not only does the comedy not feel as natural, much of it is a far too broad. There are funny characters, like a publicist played by the great John Michael Higgins, but the humor tends to go a bit over-the-top in situations like where he acts oblivious to the internet. Guest's characters are always absurd, but here they are simply too dumb to believe.

    There are a few scattered laughs throughout, thanks to the likes of Fred Willard, Jane Lynch, and Eugene Levy, but "For Your Consideration" is a huge step below Guest's other recent efforts. It's not just a matter of a change in style, but it's a subject that's more readily exercised than the charming world of, say, amateur theater.
  • hypathio7
    December 30, 2008
    hypathio7
    I generally like Christopher Guest mockumentaries, and I love Oscar season movie award buzz, but this movie doesn't mock the subject very well. Is there any movie that makes fun of movie awards well? The caricature characters were collectively too over-the-top. Other Christoph...( read more)er Guest movies have at least felt as if they were based in reality.
  • danperry17
    December 11, 2008
    danperry17
    The only reason Hollywood was so hard on this one is because it picks on Hollywood so much... and so accurately. Whereas Best in Show felt too long, this one felt too short, I would have loved to see more. Catherine O'Hara's performance is amazing, and one could say that looking ...( read more)only at her facial expressions. Brilliant and dark satire of the Oscars that is really overdue.
  • hobster1
    July 8, 2008
    hobster1
    Another funny Christopher Guest "documentary." Whole cast is excellent, but Catherine O'Hara is especially good.
  • YosemiteSamFan
    May 26, 2008
    YosemiteSamFan
    Not packed with jokes like "Waiting for Guffman", "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind". They abandoned the documentary style for a character-driven narrative. It jumped through the conception, production, release and award-nomination stages of the film-within-film "Home for Purim",...( read more) and followed several cast and crew through the project. But it fizzled flat without much hilarity. I would say they missed the mark of genius the previous Christopher Guest films had. I chuckled a bit at the "Hollywood Now" segments and how some of the characters dealt with their failure. My second viewing was more enjoyable than my initial, and saw new things to laugh at, like Catherine O'Hara's gleeful interviews, obviously influenced by a facelift, a new outfit, and some powerful prescriptions. I laughed at the plotline and terrible overacting of the Purim movie, and was amused how it was re-branded for a wider audience. I'll chuckle at anything cheap made up to be a work of art. It felt very much like an episode of SCTV.
  • samanthaseaotter
    October 28, 2009
    samanthaseaotter
    The only Christopher Guest movie I didn't really get into.
  • officiallyme
    October 18, 2009
    officiallyme
    this movie was very good :) the ending wasnt what you'd expect to be a "happy ending" and you start to realize that no one's perfect... at all!!!!
  • jimrin
    October 14, 2009
    jimrin
    While I'm not a big fan of Christopher Guest films, I thought there were funnier lines in this one than the others and thus ended up liking this one better than the others.
  • 339z
    October 2, 2009
    339z
    wow umn just seen this movie 4 the 1st time n think that this is a great movie 2 watch.....its got a good cast of actors/actressess thorughout this movie...i think that bob balaban, christopher guest, eugene levy, jennifer coolidge, john krasinski, michael mckean, ricky gervais, ...( read more)sarah shahi play good roles/parts thorughout this movie...i think that the director of this comedy/drama movie had done a good job of directing this movie because you never know what 2 expect throughout this movie....this is a good movie 2 watch its a great comedy movie n its a really enjoyable movie
  • paulanthonynelson
    September 7, 2009
    paulanthonynelson
    Often hilarious, but patchier, broader & meaner than Guest's best work. Usually airtight impro wobbles on occasion.

View All For Your Consideration Reviews

Critic Reviews

November 27, 2006
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

In order to stay ahead as a mocker these days, you must nail your subject for good. full review

November 22, 2006
Kurt Loder, MTV

"For Your Consideration" is a good little movie, but coming from Guest, you expect something great. There's always next time. full review

November 19, 2006
Pete Hammond, Maxim

There are a lot of laughs to be mined from the spectacle of ego-inflated superstars tripping over each other trying to grab a $65 gold statue, but you won't find them here. full review

November 17, 2006
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

... a quiet but often giggly pleasure. full review

November 17, 2006
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

For Your Consideration becomes more effective as it gets more cutting. full review

November 16, 2006
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Hollywood is rife for satire, but it's been done before. full review

November 16, 2006
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

Considering the talent involved, For Your Consideration is a letdown. full review

November 13, 2006
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Guest and Levy stick it good to the dark heart of showbiz, daring to suggest that the Oscar fever on which Hollywood thrives is a sickness of the soul. full review

November 13, 2006
David Edelstein, New York Magazine

Even more welcome than a new Bond is a new Guest. full review

September 20, 2006
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

Crisply made and highly entertaining. full review

View more For Your Consideration reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

  • SpikesOfFury
    August 15, 2007
    SpikesOfFury
    John Krasinsky shouldn't be in the cast list. I have nothing against him at all, but he's in the movie for about 1 minute when there are other actors with way more screen time.
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  • What did these movies have in common?: The Last Polka, This is Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration.  Answer »
  • Which humorous actor appeared in these films? Anchorman A Mighty Wind For Your Consideration  Answer »
  • Which is the newest "mocumentary" brought to us by the brilliant Christopher Guest?  Answer »
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