(2006) On DVD screeners mailed to film critics who vote for awards, the cover often says, "For your consideration."

Jay Berman (Christopher Guest) is directing an independent film, Home for Purim, the story of a Jewish family in the South during the '40s. Producer (the production's wallet) Whitney Taylor Brown (Jennifer Coolidge) offers an idea to downplay a less-than-enthusiastic response to the film's release, using reverse psychology, such as "Don't come to this show."

Father and son, a sailor on leave from the Navy, await the return of the wayward daughter to be reunited with their dying mother for the Jewish holiday. A poster for publicity features the cast members' heads atop pastries on a cookie sheet fresh from the oven, suggestive of both horror and wholesome family fare. The daughter, played by Callie Webb (Parker Posey), previously in a one-woman show, No Penis Intended, finally arrives for Purim with her lesbian partner.

Victor Allan Miller (Harry Shearer) in the role of the father had made his name as Irv the Footlong Wiener on TV commercials. Morley Orfkin (Eugene Levy), a talent agent, while telling his client Victor, "There's nothing more important than you," interrupts their conversation to answer his cellphone.

Between takes Simon Whitset (Jim Piddock) passes along a rumor from the Internet (or as he calls it, the World Wide Interweb - "That's the one with e-mail, right?") to Marilyn Hack (Catherine O'Hara) that her performance of the dying mother is being considered for a best-actress Oscar nomination.

The script writers, Philip Koontz (Bob Balaban) and Lane Iverson (Michael McKean), get upset when the director decides to toss the script for a key scene in favor of improvisation.

The hype and buzz begin to build as various infotainment programs - late-night TV, morning radio jocks, youth-oriented spots - invite members of the cast for shallow interviews. Names get dropped and mispronounced. The actors are idiots without scripts. As a guest with Marilyn on Wake Up L.A., Victor hears the host mention his name as a possible nominee for best actor. Afterward the actor formerly known for his wiener says with self-deprecation: "I'm not used to being a sex object, more a food object." This also means, Morley advises, having to think and act like a star.

Callie - "Dying is easy," she says of Marilyn's role, "playing a lesbian is hard" - and Brian Taft, who play the siblings, sister and sailor, are lovers off screen until Callie finds herself also among the trophy topics, causing a fissure in their relationship.

A Hollywood studio suit, Martin Gibb (Ricky Gervais), appears on the set full of praise and a recommendation, just a tweaking for greater audience appeal, to "tone down the Jewishness so everyone can enjoy it." Maybe instead of Purim the holiday could be Easter.

Anticipating celebrations, Whitney says she enjoys Latin restaurants (You mean Mexican or Latin American?) where "They speak Latin." Chuck Porter (Fred Willard) and his co-host Cindy (Jane Lynch) of Hollywood Now ask innocuous questions such as "Where have you been?" of Victor, who begins to answer only to be told: "Rhetorical question. Didn't have to answer."

When it appears in theaters the film has a new title, Home for Thanksgiving. So instead of a gold trophy, here, have a turkey drumstick. That's show biz.

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Copyright © 2007 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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