For Your Consideration

By now Christopher Guest’s brand of satire has become so formulaic it hardly matters that he disposes with the pseudodocumentary format this time. The subject is Oscar-season hype, a natural for him and his usual repertory of actors (Catherine O’Hara, cowriter Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Parker Posey, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean), though far too mild to threaten any of their industry standing. A fairly preposterous low-budget period southern-Jewish melodrama called Home for Purim generates a tad of Oscar buzz thanks to an Internet rumor, and three members of the cast get worked up about it. This has its moments, but don’t expect many fresh insights. PG-13, 86 min. (JR)

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