Best in Show Review
by Christopher Null (cnull AT mindspring DOT com)September 21st, 2000
BEST IN SHOW
A film review by Christopher Null
Copyright 2000 filmcritic.com
filmcritic.com
Just when you thought the mockumentary had mocked everything worth
mocking, here comes a new gem of the genre that will have you rolling in
the aisles once again.
Up for skewering this time around is the dog show, as Best in Show
takes the absolutely inane shenanigans of dog breeders and handlers,
impaling their obsession with a caliber of wit unseen since This is
Spinal Tap made rock gods look like buffoons.
Not that this is a surprise. Writer/director Christopher Guest
wrote and composed the music for Spinal Tap, directed the funny-hmmm
Waiting for Guffman, and even starred in the masterful and sarcastic The
Princess Bride. His The Big Picture is one of the most underrated
parodies -- attacking Hollywood -- of all time. Guest knows comedy, and
he is still at the top of his game.
Best in Show owes its hilarity to its script, which gives us the
simple premise of pet owners from around the country converging on the
Mayflower Dog Show in Philadelphia (you know, where they make the cream
cheese). And while the script is stellar, opening with a yuppie couple
in group psychotherapy with their depressed Weimaraner, it's the dead-on
casting that makes Best in Show so teary-eyed goofy.
With some dozen characters, it's hard to single out any one actor
who steals the show, but I'd have to give top honors to John Michael
Higgins (the guy who played Letterman in The Late Shift), a screaming
queen with a Shih Tzu named Miss Agnes and a straightish "companion"
played by Michael McKean. Parker Posey is always a treat to watch as
half of the yuppie couple; with their matching braces and testimonials
about being so fortunate to be raised "with catalogs," the Starbucks set
has never looked more embarrassing.
Guest has a role as a hick Bloodhound-owner cum ventriloquist, and
Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara give their best as pathetic,
lower-than-white trash Terrier wranglers. (O'Hara's slutty vixen even
sticks her name tag right on her chest instead of her top.) Finally
there's Jennifer Coolidge (Stifler's Mom from American Pie) as a Philly
society gal, Anna Nicole Smith-like in her buxomness and adamancy that
her marriage to an octogenarian is filled with love. Who will win the
silver cup? Who cares? They're all fall-down funny.
What unfortunately drags Best in Show off its game is the fact that
most of these actors have been around the block a time or two in this
kind of material. At least a half-dozen of the main players are Second
City or Spinal Tap comedy veterans, including Fred Willard's loutish
announcer, who wonders on the air why the Bloodhound can't put on a
Sherlock Holmes hat and a smoke a pipe. There's just no opportunity to
mistake Best in Show for a real documentary -- as some did when Spinal
Tap came out, and as many still do with a movie like Dadetown. While
the documentary style is intact, these faces are just too familiar to
pull that off.
That and a few missed joke opportunities aside, Best in Show has
easily gained a spot on my top ten list this year. Maybe not the blue
ribbon, but definitely the red.
RATING: ****
|------------------------------|
\ ***** Perfection \
\ **** Good, memorable film \
\ *** Average, hits and misses \
\ ** Sub-par on many levels \
\ * Unquestionably awful \
|------------------------------|
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Christopher Guest
Producer: Karen Murphy
Writer: Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy
Starring: Bob Balaban, Ed Begley Jr., Jennifer Coolidge, Patrick
Cranshaw, Christopher Guest, John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock,
Don Lake, Eugene Levy, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, Catherine O'Hara,
Parker Posey, Fred Willard, Jim Piddock
http://www.bestinshowonline.com/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=filmcriticcom&path=subst/video/sellers/amazon-top-100-dvd.html Movie Fiends: Check out Amazon.com's Top 100 Hot DVDs!
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
