Waiting for Guffaws

Something I've noticed about Christopher Guest's body of work as a director is a pattern of diminishing returns with each new offering. Waiting for Guffman was brilliantly hilarious. Best in Show was very funny. A Mighty Wind was mildly amusing. Now comes For Your Consideration, which is vaguely depressing.

It's hard to say what's fading, except maybe it's all too self-conscious now. Everybody's in on the joke, both cast and audience, and the players who were once such beautiful losers are now just shrill caricatures of themselves. It's sad to see.

Another thing holding For Your Consideration back is that spoofing Hollywood has been done more times than (insert your preferred celebrity ho's name here). The whole cast seems tired; the mood is mean-spirited. Even Ricky Gervais retreads his The Office schtick one too many times.

Here's hoping comic genius Guest and his very talented troupe of merry men and women can make a real Hollywood-style comeback in their next film collaboration. Until then, I'm going to go home and just...well...bite my pillow!