i'm a big fan of christopher guest both as an actor and a director. he's hilarious in both facets and has made some true comedy classics. the big picture is his first film and i had never heard of it until a few months ago. with a top noth cast of great talent and a script set within the film world the big picture sounded like a can't lose piece of entertainment. sure it is forgotten film from the 80's but maybe it slipped through the cracks and deserves reappraisal? sadly not. the big picture is a very funny film, filled with very funny moments and some very good performances but overall is a bit of a let down. a let down because i was expecting so much more. the film's not terrible but it drags on a bit too long and there are to many moments when it's just not that funny if at all. the music is pretty weak and the cinematography fluctuates between pretty good and just okay. not to say there aren't some good things about this film. the sadly missed j.t. walsh is here and just awesome as usual but in the acting department the film surprisingly belongs to michael mckean. he is great and brings just enough pathos and credibility to the role to make it the strongest performance in the whole film. who would of thought? overall there are enough funny moments and and a few real gems of comedy and there are some surprising cameos. and there is a quirky sense to the film and a somewhat novel and meta production to the film (long before meta was 'in') which gives it some churm but sadly it's not enough to save the big picture. with two slow a pace, too long a movie, not enough consistent humour, pretty cheesy humour, outdated 80's references and a fairly predictable storyline the big picture falls short of a recommendation. it isn't bad and you'll like much of the film but when it's over you'll feel like it came and went like a below average tarveling flea circus. sure you'd see it for free if someone dragged you along but you wouldn't blink an eye if you ended up missing it. 59/100