Inconceivable

The Princess Bride (1987)
Originally uploaded by peter-noster.

I don't really remember the day that I found out that the six-fingered man in "The Princess Bride" is not only married to Jamie Lee Curtis, but is also the guy behind "Waiting for Guffman" and "Best In Show". It was a pretty big day, as far as revelations go. In any case, all I now know is that I can't watch him in "The Princess Bride" without giggling to myself at how much he is clearly enjoying himself, and that is highly inappropriate given the devilish role he plays in the classic fairytale film. Oh my sweet Westley...

Christopher Guest is just a classic comedian as far as I'm concerned and I really enjoy his crazy sense of humor. I didn't have to think too hard this weekend when I decided to go and see his latest offering, "For Your Consideration".

The story is really a film within a film, and Guest is pretty much unrecognisable as a Jewish film director, with fuzzy permed hair and a terrible habit of talking with his mouth full (and he's always eating something).

The best part of the movie though is every scene that features Catherine O'Hara, who I have loved ever since she left that brat Macauley Culkin in the attic in the first "Home Alone" movie. She is a veteran of Christopher Guest's movies, and is particularly classic in "Best In Show". She is just wonderful in this latest movie too and I loved it when she finally succumbed to that Hollywood chestnut - the botox and collagen combination - with hysterical results. I read somewhere that to look like that, O'Hara just put long veneers in her mouth (they look like shiny white piano keys, trust me) and she used her facial muscles to make herself look permanently surprised. How an actress can do that and still deliver her lines is beyond me. I loved her.

Christopher Guests seems to have carried over his troupe of actors with him from film set to film set. I used to think that Parker Posey was just an odd actress but having seen all of Guest's films, I realise that I wouldn't want to see her in anything BUT an odd role; she just does them so well. And I don't know his name, but do you remember the guy that played the awkward dog show commentator in "Best In Show" (the one who would always make inappropriate comments)? Well to see him in this film as an ageing Entertainment Tonight-style anchor with a mohawk (!) is priceless. And Jennifer Coolidge, the ditzy buxom blonde who was also the manicurist in Legally Blonde is just so good in this role, as the film-within-a-film's clueless producer.

The cinema was packed on Saturday afternoon when I went and saw "For Your Consideration" but I guess that's always a good sign, right? And even though the film doesn't offer as many laugh-out-loud moments as "Best In Show" or "Waiting For Guffman", it's still a great movie that I really enjoyed. In fact, now that I have had some time to read the reviews, the movie is getting absolutely canned. So honestly, don't fork out $10 to see the movie based on my feedback or you may want to give me a papercut and pour lemon juice on it when you realise the movie is crap. But for what it's worth, I liked it. A cameo by Ricky Gervais can never be a bad thing, surely...