Christopher Guest can breathe easy, his crown as the Master of improv feature films is under no threat at all. Aware of the positive reviews that "Confetti" had generated, I was anticipating a well-conceived, superbly performed laugh-fest that was a cut above. Was I ever in for a rude shock! Martin Freeman, Jessica Stevenson, Julia Davis and Alison Steadman alone may hold their heads high. These performers acquitted themselves well in spite of overwhelming opposition from an under worked concept, a total lack of effective direction or judicious editing and a cast of over-actors, out of their depth and intent on caricaturing their roles to within an inch of their life. Without the entire tennis-themed nuptials, you would be guaranteed a slightly less awful film, so woefully bad was each teeth-grindingly drawn out scene involving these dull and unwatchable characters going about their irritating and unconvincing lives. It was a great shock for me to later learn that the actress who limped along as the female half of this unpleasant partnership, was actually a graduate of the highly esteemed RADA. As for the actor (and I hesitate in labeling him thus) portraying Josef, such inexcusable miscasting and lack of conviction has rarely been seen since Keanu Reeves was afforded the opportunity to mangle the bard in "Much Ado About Nothing". This film is laboured, unoriginal, heavy on predictability and stereotypes, and yet full of wasted opportunities to be genuinely fresh and amusing. I noted that a fellow board user gushingly stated that he had not seen anything as funny as "Confetti" since "The 40 Year Old Virgin". That about sums it up for me!
