My First Mister (2001)

Angsty, alienated teen (Leelee Sobieski) finds an unlikely confidante in her middle-aged boss (Albert Brooks) in this well written coming-of-age story. Sobieski's spicy monologues are what truly sucked me in. Read like diary passages, their extreme honesty treads the line of bad taste, but they remain well in-line with the character. Brooks plays many roles, from friend, father-figure and even love interest. The odd couple's dynamic grows ever more engrossing as each influences the other, stepping over societal boundaries in the process. Unfortunately, a sad twist in the latter half slows the pacing down considerably just as things are heating up, leaving the final meaningful moments sluggish and predictable.

3½ auto-eulogies out of 5

PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES [1987]

Considered by it's two starring lead's a favorite film of their own, the road trip buddy comedy Planes, Trains & Automobiles marks a departure from director John Hughes' usual teen movies of the time.
The premise is quite familiar: uptight Steve Martin wants to go home for Thanksgiving and his uninvited travel companion, the care-free John Candy, unintentionally sees to it that it won't be a mere hop, skip & jump.  Simplicity aside, everything about the film is set in all the right places.  The casting is perfect, the increasingly funny tale unfolds with subtle poignancy and comfort because it's storytelling & characters are straight-up real.  Like The Breakfast Club and fine wine, the film only gets better with age.

4 shower curtain rings out of 5

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION [2006]

Chris Guest & company gather together once more for the Academy Award season satirical film For Your Consideration.

It takes some nasty jab at the way Hollywood & the entertainment business runs but I think a lot of the humour is lost on the average viewer with too many "in the biz" jokes and whatnot.  Catherine O'Hara shines here as the insecure and manic actress on the verge of hysterics.  For some reason Guest decides to drop the mockumentary style he's so good at and it hurts the ab-libbed humour a bit.  Beyond it's many shortcomings, FYC is still wickedly funnier than most inane thoughtless comedies today.

3½ Jezebels out of 5

A MIGHTY WIND [2003]

Christopher Guest continues with the funny with his hilarious folk music mockumentary A Mighty Wind.  Guest opts to go for more of an emotional story than his previous films and it gives the chance for the actors to show they aren't just funny but can really capture realistic character traits as well.  It's done so well I swear if I didn't know it was a Guest film I would have thought it was a real documentary with really weird people in it.  It's not Guest's funniest film but certainly his most heartfelt.

4 folk rockin' Spinal Taps out of 5

BEST IN SHOW [2000]

Christopher Guest assembles his usual group of actors to bring on the funny with their knack of incredible improv in the mockumentary Best In Show.  

The film focuses on a group of flaky, neurotic individuals who all live their lives through their canine companions, as they all come together to compete in a national dog show.  There's more than enough folks who just simply didn't understand the humor in this film but for those that do, it's a piss-your-pants laugh-a-thon.  

4 telepathic bloodhounds out of 5

THIS IS SPINAL TAP [1984]

Rob Reiner's theatrical feature length directorial debut, This Is Spinal Tap is probably one of the funniest rock music satires ever.

This mockumentary cult classic captures the lifestyles of the '80's heavy metal band so well, many real metal musicians of it's time failed to see the humor in it, some going so far as to saying "it's exactly like us. Why is it so funny?"

Spinal Tap members themselves, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean & Harry Shearer are top-notch ab-libbers and seem like the genuine thing, something they would only get better at at they prove in Guest's future films.  

4 crotch zucchinis out of 5