sooner or later and it be bind to happen . in an impressive string of wonderful mockumentary farce over the past few year and guide light christopher guest and eugene levy and and their brilliant comedic act ensemble and have joyfully savage the self important cultural world of small town amateur theater ( wait for guffman ) and dog show ( best in show ) and folk music ( a mighty wind ) . but a winning formula can not go on forever unchanged and nor should we expect it to . inevitably and the group have hit a bump in the road with their late film and for your consideration and a send up of hollywood movie making and the assorted vanity of movie maker . not that it bad . but compare to those early work and it isn not inspire while it doesn not grab you with it effort to lampoon while and the performance of the actor always uniformly of a high caliber in most of their movie be highly variable in this new movie . perhaps the theme hit too close to home represent it hard to gain the distance necessary to properly ridicule your own ethos and your own cultural world . or maybe it just that the recipe guest and levy have use to such delightful advantage have just get old and for viewer and for guest company . the plot and for what it worth and concern a film within a film represent the making of a new movie and the ethnically freight home for purim and which be later rewritten and retitled home for thanksgiving to broaden it commercial box office appeal . all the stereotype one expect be on hand represent the avaricious executive producer while the harried director while the screenwriter and pain by the incremental decimation of their work while the age star in decline while the young up and coming while the vain chase after that holiest of grail represent an oscar and the hanger on the parasitic and disingenuous talent agent and talk show host and film critic and entertainment reporter . theyre all here . parker posey ( young actress possibly on the way up ) and catherine ohara ( ( veteran actress on the way out ) and jennifer coolidge ( ditzy producer ) and and eugene levy ( actor agent ) provide decent turn but none of these superb talent give a truly inspired performance here . harry shearer be well a a long suffering actor who be glad enough just to star in a feature film after year of make commercial and oscar or no oscar . but the comedic scene stealer in this movie be three pair of actor who play off each other to wonderful effect represent fred willard and jane lynch a a tv entertainment report duo and bob balaban and michael mckean a the beleaguered screenwriter and and don lake and michael hitchcock a siskel ebert style tv critic . there be several competent cameo contributor a well and the best of whom be carrie aizley and a movie journalist . this be decent fare and but i think guest and levy need to re imagine their formula for successful farce . i never think the day would come when i would regard a comedy write by david mamet a superior to work by guest and levy and but here a tip represent if you want to see a good send up of movie making and try mamet 2000 film and state and main . my grade represent 6 . 5/10 ( low b ) ( see on 11/15/06 ) .