I'm one of Christopher Guest's biggest fans, having LOVED Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman...but the things that made each of those movies so wonderful -- quirky characters sharing their lives with the camera -- seem to be absent here. The cast of Home for Purim, the film within the film, is not very good. They're not supposed to be. The story is melodramatic and the actors find themselves believing themselves to be better than they are. Unfortunately for us, the characters just aren't fun to watch. It's something like Lisa Kudrow's short-lived show, The Comeback. You watch several characters over-hype themselves with over-expectations and it's just an unfortunate train wreck.
That being said, the actors in FYC are terrific. Each one brings their character home. The story told is also possibly a story worth telling, but it has too much of the "Oh." panache from the British version of The Office and not enough of the laugh-out-loud moments.
I can't wait to see Mr. Guest's future films (not to mention look up some of his back catalog!), as well as each of the great cast: Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Eugene Levy, Harry Shearer, and everyone else. I just wish that this film made me laugh more.
That being said, the actors in FYC are terrific. Each one brings their character home. The story told is also possibly a story worth telling, but it has too much of the "Oh." panache from the British version of The Office and not enough of the laugh-out-loud moments.
I can't wait to see Mr. Guest's future films (not to mention look up some of his back catalog!), as well as each of the great cast: Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Eugene Levy, Harry Shearer, and everyone else. I just wish that this film made me laugh more.