Best in Show (2000)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Christopher Guest

Writers (WGA):

Christopher Guest (written by) &
Eugene Levy (written by)

Release Date:

1 March 2001 (Germany)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Some pets deserve a little more respect than others.

Plot:

A colorful array of characters competes at a national dog show.

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Dog Show | Florida | Hotel | Ventriloquist

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 10 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Jay Brazeau	...	Dr. Chuck Nelken
Parker Posey	...	Meg Swan
Michael Hitchcock	...	Hamilton Swan
Catherine O'Hara	...	Cookie Fleck
Eugene Levy	...	Gerry Fleck
Carrie Aizley	...	Fern City Show Spectator
Lewis Arquette	...	Fern City Show Spectator
Dany Canino	...	Fern City Show Judge
Bob Balaban	...	Dr. Theodore W. Millbank, III
Will Sasso	...	Fishin' Hole Guy
Stephen E. Miller	...	Fishin' Hole Guy
Christopher Guest	...	Harlan Pepper
Michael McKean	...	Stefan Vanderhoof
John Michael Higgins	...	Scott Donlan
Colin Cunningham	...	New York Butcher

Also Known As:

Dog Show (USA) (working title)
Dogumentary (USA) (working title)
Very Important Perros (Argentina) (video title) (Spain) [es]
Bêtes de scène (France) [fr]
Campioni di razza (Italy) [it]
Dog Show! (Japan: English title) [en]
Le clou du spectacle (Canada: French title) [fr]
O Melhor do Show (Brazil) (cable TV title) [pt]
Skylisia zoi (Greece) (TV title) [el]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language and sex-related material.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-11 | South Korea:15 | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating) | USA:PG-13 (No. 37689) | Greece:K | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | New Zealand:PG | Spain:T | UK:12 | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Aldergrove, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

The shot of the arena where the dog show is taking place is actually stock footage from the Jean-Claude Van Damme film Sudden Death (1995) which takes place at what is now the Mellon Arena where the Pittsburgh Penguins play, but at that point it was called the Civic Arena. This is why the arena is surrounded by police cars which would be necessary in a terrorist situation, but not for a dog show.

Goofs:

Continuity: Before the Best in Show event near the end of the movie, after Cookie falls and injures her knee, the person holding the terrier changes from Christy to Scott and back.

Quotes:

Bulge: [interrupting Gerry and Cookie in the studio while they're recording] Cookie?
Cookie Fleck: Yeah?
Bulge: Cookie Guggleman?
Cookie Fleck: Yeah. Do I know you?
Bulge: Does this ring a bell?
[singsongs]
Bulge: "I'm not wearing underwear".
Cookie Fleck: Bulge? Get outta town!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 50 Greatest Comedy Films (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Piano Seduction

"Best In Show" indeed

I'll admit that I've never seen "Waiting for Guffman", 1997's critically acclaimed comedy mockumentary about a small town thats that stages a pageant. When the advertising for Best in Show had the tagline "From the Team That Brought You Waiting for Guffman", a fair number of critics out there implied in their reviews that only people that are familiar with the film or its filmmakers and cast would have a good time seeing this film. For shame, critics, for shame times two! Any critic that implies something like that with any film probably doesn't want to share the film's wealth with the rest of the world, but this is one film that I hope people will experience, now that its video/dvd. "Best in Show" is, without a doubt, the best comedy of 2000.

The film begins with a mockumentary style, introducing the main competitors (not to mention screwballs) of the annual Mayflower "Best In Show" competition, where dogs of all breeds come to compete to see who is the top dog. We have the loveable and gullable Harry Pepper (Guest) with his bloodhound, the simple Gerry & Cookie Fleck (Levy & O'Hara) with their terriors, nut-case yuppies Hamilton & Meg Swan (Hitchcock & Posey), the gay dog groomers Scott Dolan & Stefan Vanderhoof (Higgins & McKean), and the airheaded millionare Sheri Ann Ward Cabot (Coolidge) along with her trainer Christy Cummings (Lynch). They all have their minds on one simple object: The Blue Ribbon, which will be awarded to the best dog. And...do I have to tell you the rest?

Director/writer/star Guest's idea of humor is one that assures me that there are comedies out there that are worth laughing at, and that the idiocy of films like "American Pie" or other pointless "teenage" flicks won't take over the world after all. His idea is simple: make your comedy not just funny, but SMART funny. But instead of following in the brilliant footsteps of films like "Zero Effect" and "High Fidelity", he used a rather unusual approach (and as I understand, he also used this approach for "Guffman"). Whether you notice or not, a very large part of the film is improvisation. In other words, what the actors say and do were probably not written in the script, maybe even not even dreamed of by Guest and co-writer/star Levy. But with a gentle hand from Guest, he and the actors pulled off a hilarious theatrical feat that probably would have flopped if handled by other, less adept actors. Now that's smart!

The cast is, of course, what makes improv work the most. All of them are a (comedic) marvel to behold, especially Guest as Pepper. But the real standout has to be Fred Williard as Buck Laughlin, the clueless announcer at the competition who can spin out the most outrageously funny stories and comments that no announcer would even dream of...that is, if the announcer was trying to be funny. Williard can go from talking about the dog to suddenly going on and on about how much he can bench press. There's even a part were he gives out an idea for a new marketing strategy: have sexy women pose in tight shirts and shorts with the dogs and imply something like "have a doggie-style of a time". Its priceless, as is his performance.

I hope that people engage in this 90-minute "dogumentary". The film deserves so much recognition. It did get nominated for Best Picture-Comedy at the Golden Globes, but didn't win. I can't see why. I mean, in the comedy department, it is best in show.

GRADE: A