Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The Genius of Christopher Guest
Although this isn't as cultish as "This Is Spinal Tap" or as laugh-out-loud-funny as "Waiting for Guffman," "Best In Show" once again showcases Christopher Guest's brilliance as a writer/director of "mock-umentaries," as well as his impeccable taste in assembling the perfect cast. Guest takes the least-showy role of soft spoken Southerner, Harlan Pepper (a far cry from Guffman's flamboyant Corky St. Clair), and surrounds himself with the likes of Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy as a woman with a dubious sexual past and her hapless husband; Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock as a strident yuppie couple who tear into one another mercilessly over what's best for their beloved dog; Michael McKean and John Michael Higgins as a middle class gay couple who sing their dog lullabyes over the phone; and the hilarious Jennifer Coolidge (in a send-up of Anna Nicole Smith) as a vapid fortune hunter married to an ancient millionaire while maintaining a curiously close relationship with their dog trainer played by Jane Lynch. The movie has a gentle, lilting feel, humorous but not screamingly funny, and takes time to develop these characters fully while exploring the tense and cut-throat world of dog shows. Fred Willard nearly steals the show as a pompous, ignorant commentator. There are so many wonderful moments in this film, you have to check it out for yourself. Not for everyone, I'm sure. The story is fairly basic and, like Guest's other films, this is more a character study than anything else. If you're a fan of his earlier work, this is a must-see.
Rating: - It has its funny moments...
This film is what a friend of mine calls a "mock documentary." It "documents" the obsessive lives of dog-owners as they prepare for a national dog competition. I put "documents" in quotes because what it really ends up doing is making fun of these people. Each couple "interviewed" in the film has their own quirks, none more evident than the manic-depressive Weimaraner of Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock. (You know how some dog owners end up resembling their pets (or the other way around)? Parker Posey's look was dead on.) Christopher Guest ends up being the handler of a bloodhound (and either he owns the dog or is really good with it, because they're awesome together). Eugene Levy as the husband with two left feet (literally) also cracked me up.I'm not even sure whether the actors stuck to a script because it felt completely improvised as each actor fed on what their fellow actors said. It's amazing. But, hands down, I thought the highlight of this comedy was Fred Willard as the commentator of the competition. He is absolutely hilarious. It's fairly obvious he knows nothing about dog competitions, or dogs for that matter. It's not even clear how he got the job. His fellow announcer, an English fellow, is forced to endure Willard's outrageous and dirty remarks while at the same time trying to provide a helpful commentary for the audience. In the same style as Waiting for Guffman, this film is divided into the pre-event, event, and post event interview segments. I recommend this film for people who likes to see things blown out of proportion (figuratively). It's not a very fast paced film, and lacks any of the qualities that might garner it mass appeal. But it is a funny look into the even funnier world of dog breeders. LEAP rating (each out of 5):
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L (Language) - 4 (each character matches their social stereotype to a tee)
E (Erotica) - 0 (n/a)
A (Action) - 0 (n/a)
P (Plot) - 1 (dog lovers take their pet to a Best in Show competition)
Rating: - I'm STILL howling with laughter a week later
If you're a dog enthusuiast of any sort, or wonder what it is with those dog shows, turn off Animal Planet for an evening and watch Best In Show. Written by Spinal Tap creator Christopher Guest and SCTV's Eugene Levy, Best In Show takes a similarly wry yet loving look at the culture of amateur dog shows.As with This Is Spinal Tap, the dog show world is merely a backdrop against which the cast improvises a wild variety of characters: a pair of neurotic yuppies who met in a Starbuck's, a trophy wife and her trainer "friend," a gay couple comprised of polar opposites - all these people would be funny enough by themselves, but against the surreal seriousness of dog showmanship they are totally hilarious. This is one of those movies where two days later you're boring people at work by repeating lines from the movie. Best In Show really has benefitted from the experience gained during Spinal Tap and Waiting for Guffman, keeping a real tight comedic pace using editing - in a film where the dialog is mostly improvised, Guest uses cuts to eliminate some of the lags in between stellar comedic bits. It therefore watches as if the whole thing were carefully orchestrated and scripted, not slowing down a bit. I'm tempted to say that some people won't "get" Best In Show, but I really don't see how - it's paced well, it's performed well, the comedy is not mean-spirited or nasty, it's just plain funny, funny, funny. Everyone who's seen Spinal Tap needs to see this, and even if you didn't quite like Spinal Tap, you will like Best In Show.
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