The case for Guest

As far as I can tell, Christopher Guest’s latest film, For Your Consideration, pretty much bombed in America, which must be a recommendation, surely. Listen, I’m only kidding. I have nothing against America. Sometimes, I even think it’s quite the nicest country anyone ever stole and, as for Americans, utterly, utterly charming. Quite fat and quite stupid and always waddling off to amusement parks — I’m not busy today; I know, I’ll ask someone to strap me upside-down and spin me around until I puke — but aside from that, utterly, utterly charming.

Anyway, I suppose whether you will like this film depends largely on whether you like Guest’s loose, fond style of improvised comedy or not, which I accept may not be to everyone’s taste, although, if it’s not to your taste, you may wish to ask yourself this: do I actually have any taste? Guest’s films include This Is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind; all not just brilliantly inventive and brilliantly funny, but also richly nuanced, slow-burning character studies.