Christopher Guest, the creator
of mockumentaries like Best in Show, brings
us this send up of Hollywood and the entertainment business. It's a movie within
a movie, and we watch the production of "Home for Purim" and what happens
when an Oscar buzz surrounds three of the lead actors. It's filled with
low key, dry humor, and the cast and crew are beyond quirky as they work on an
overly dramatic film about a Jewish family in the 1940s deep south. When the mother
(Catherine O'Hara, Best in Show, Orange
County) is dying, her children come home for Purim, including daughter Rachel
(Parker Posey, Best in Show, Tales of
the City), who has been estranged. She arrives with her girlfriend Mary Pat
(Rachael Harris, Kicking and Screaming)
and comes out to her family. Callie Webb, who plays the character of Rachel,
just finished a one woman show called "No Penis Intended." She and Marilyn
Hack (the mother) are both being mentioned for Oscar nominations, but the actor
playing Mary Pat gives Callie the edge. "Dying is easy. Playing a lesbian
is hard." The rest of the film is filled with interesting appearances
from out lesbian Jane Lynch (Best in Show,
Little Black Boot, Fabulous!, Promtroversy,
"The L Word"), Jennifer Coolidge (Best
in Show, The Broken Hearts Club),
Sandra Oh (Under the Tuscan Sun,
Further Tales of the City), Sarah Shahi ("The L Word," Dr
T and the Women) , Carrie Aizley ("Campus Ladies"), Harry Shearer,
Ed Begley Jr., Eugene Levy, Fred Willard and more. It's quite a farce, but it
fell a little flat for me. |