From 1997 to 2006, Christopher Guest emerged every three years to direct one of his signature “mockumentaries”. This started with Waiting for Guffman and progressed through 2000’s Best in Show and 2003’s A Mighty Wind.

2006 brought us Guest’s fourth effort, the Hollywood spoof For Your Consideration. This also became Guest’s feature film mockumentary swan song,

Guest did return to the format for Family Tree, a TV series so mediocre I forgot it existed until I wrote up this Blu-ray. It appears that concluded Guest’s interest in the format, though.

In Consideration, wee go to the set of a low-budget period piece called Home for Purim. The film starts with a look at the participants and the production but starts to shift tones when lead actress Marilyn Hack (Catherine O’Hara) hears an Internet rumor that her performance shows Oscar promise.

This concept soon infects the shoot as Marilyn takes it to heart and other cast members start to dream of Oscar gold themselves. The flick follows the making of Purim as well as the influence of Academy fantasies on those involved.

While Consideration still fits the “mockumentary” concept, it differs from its three predecessors – and 1983’s This Is Spinal Tap - in its format. The other efforts felt more like real documentaries, while Consideration mixes media and comes across more as a “fly on the wall” look at different elements than an actual documentary.

This may catch the viewer off-guard and I know that was my initial reaction to the film. When I went into my theatrical screening of Consideration, I expected the standard Guest format, so the mildly altered viewpoint of this flick came as a surprise and negatively affected my enjoyment of it.

This shouldn’t be seen as a criticism of Guest’s choice. I relate it merely to indicate the expectations I took into the film and how these impacted my impressions of it.

In that initial screening, I must admit I didn’t much care for Consideration. I thought it offered a smattering of laughs but seemed thinner and less entertaining than its predecessors.

Of course, if you read my reviews for Guffman and Wind, I make nearly identical comments. Maybe I just go into these flicks with unusually high expectations.

With that in mind, I felt eager to examine Consideration with a different point of view. Did an additional screening provide a new appreciation for the film?

Definitely. Upon subsequent review, I could accept the flick better for what it was than for what I expected it to be.

On this take, Consideration opens up as a clever and engaging Hollywood spoof. This time through, it becomes easier to accept the format.

Consideration straddles Guest’s usual mockumentary setting with more traditional narrative storytelling. This feels a little awkward at times but it usually works fine. Again, my initial misgivings stemmed mostly from my preconceived notions.

As with all of Guest’s other efforts, Consideration boasts an excellent cast. Two performers get the majority of the laugh-out-loud moments.

As usual, Fred Willard steals the show as a moronic, insensitive host of an Entertainment Tonight-style program. Jennifer Coolidge does another of her many ditzy blondes as movie producer Whitney Taylor Brown. Both delight in their roles and make the most of their sequences.

All the remaining actors do quite well too, but for a real three-dimensional performance, O’Hara fares best. Hack is arguably the only semi-developed role in the bunch, though her Purim co-star Victor Alan Miller gets added personality as well.

In that role, Harry Shearer is solid, but he doesn’t live up to the range shown by O’Hara. She contributes many funny moments, of course.

Heck, O’Hara’s amazing simulation of a face-job – which neglects prosthetics and uses only her natural gifts – deserves notice all on its own. O’Hara brings out many other elements of the role in a really strong piece of work.

So despite my initial there’s lots to like about For Your Consideration. Does it match with the best of Guest? No, but it has more than enough going for it to make it another winner.

For Your Consideration appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Largely shot Super 16mm, the Blu-ray offered a fine representation of the source.

Sharpness usually looked good. Some light softness marred a few scenes, but those instances remained reasonably uncommon, so the majority of the film offered positive delineation.

I noticed no issues with jagged edges nor shimmering, and edge haloes stayed absent. Grain seemed heavy but appropriate for Super 16, and no print flaws appeared.

The movie went with a natural palette, and the colors looked fine. The grain dulled them a little at times, but the hues generally appeared full and rich.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, while low-light shots demonstrated appealing clarity. This was about as good as one could hope the source might look.

Note that a handful of scenes used 35mm film. For instance, brief clips from a competing film looked more vivid. Segments from TV shows also delivered a muddier video appearance.

These instances occurred too infrequently to impact my overall impression of the picture quality in either a positive or a negative direction. Nonetheless, I wanted to mention these variations.

Given the movie’s chatty scope, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of For Your Consideration seemed acceptable. I expected a low-key soundfield and that’s what I found.

The environment mostly stayed with general ambience and not much else. A few sequences opened up a little more vividly, but those instances stayed infrequent.

The sides and surrounds mostly gave us a light feeling of the setting, though when we saw clips from fake TV shows, they used the surrounds more dynamically to feature music.

Audio quality was fine. Speech seemed natural and concise, with no edginess or other issues. Effects were a minor consideration, but they sounded accurate and clean.

Music cropped up even less frequently, as the only score came from Home for Purim scenes. The music seemed lively and rich on those occasions, though. This was a subtle track that suited the movie.

How did the Blu-ray compare to the original 2007 DVD? The BD’s lossless audio felt warmer than the DVD’s lossy affair, but the restrained nature of the mix made improvements less obvious.

Visuals became a different matter, as the Blu-ray seemed better defined and more vivid than the dull DVD. Even with the limitations of the 16mm source, this became a much improved presentation.

When it comes to extras, we begin with an audio commentary from director/writer/actor Christopher Guest and writer/actor Eugene Levy. The pair sit together for a running, screen-specific chat in which they discuss the original opening, cast, characters and performances, hairpieces and makeup, story elements, and other production basics.

Prior Guest/Levy commentaries have been spotty, but this one works pretty well. The pair seem chattier than normal and offer a nice look at the flick.

They dig into the various topics well as they cover what we want to know. This is an entertaining and enjoyable discussion.

Under the banner “Bonus Material”, 18 Deleted/Alternate Scenes fill a total of 38 minutes, 52 seconds. With so many clips, I won’t discuss each of them.

They do bring out new dimensions in some of the characters, especially Corey. While the final flick just makes him seem like a bit of a buffoon, the extra bits bring him out as an overbearing control freak.

Other secondary roles benefit from some added screentime, and plenty of interesting moments emerge. I like Marilyn’s bizarre statement on Wake Up LA, and it’s amusing to see Chuck’s idiotic demands when he and Cindy prepare to interview the cast.

Only the last two clips falter, really. One falls into blooper reel territory, as Carrie Aizley can’t stop laughing.

The other provides more than six minutes of Nina Conti and “Monk” while Guest chats with them. At least the first 16 segments are compelling.

We end with the trailer for Consideration. The BD drops a poster gallery from the DVD.

If you expect For Your Consideration to be another straight ‘mockumentary’ ala Waiting for Guffman or Best in Show, you’ll come away with disappointment – I know that’s how I felt when I first saw it. However, a second screening better revealed the movie’s charms and allowed me to appreciate its high quality. The Blu-ray offers solid picture and adequate audio along with a few interesting supplements. This becomes a nice Blu-ray for a quality film.

To rate this film visit the original review of FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION