Best in Show

Released 2000
Stars Jennifer Coolidge, Christopher Guest, John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock, Eugene Levy, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Fred Willard, Ed Begley Jr.
Directed by Christopher Guest

I am a dog lover, but I am not a dog fancier. I can understand people who dote on their dogs, but I cannot understand dog shows, which make dogs miserable while bringing out the worst traits of their owners. That's why I approve of "Best in Show," a wickedly funny mocumentary by Christopher Guest that makes fun of a Philadelphia dog show with every instrument in the satirist's arsenal, from the skewer to the mallet. Built around the improvisational techniques of Second City, the movie is consistently just plain funny and sometimes ascends to a kind of crazed genius.

Summary by Roger Ebert

Fred Willard steals the show as the t.v. commentator during the Mayflower Kennel Club's annual dog show. He had me laughing until it hurt. Other standouts were Ed Begley Jr., John Michael Higgins and Catherine O'Hara. "Best in Show" is a rather genial satire of dog shows. It could have been nasty in skewering these people, but it does so with affection. I thought it started slowly with the improvised dialogue that would have worked better with a little polishing, but the movie rocks once it hits the hotel and never wanes. The funniest part for me was the Meg Swan character played by Parker Posey, because I know a trendy, materialistic yuppie who dotes on her dog as if it were a child. I wouldn't be surprised if she takes her dog to a psychiatrist as well. --Bill Alward, August 11, 2001