I’ve always been a cat person having shared my home with as many as five at one time, though the average felines living with us has usually been 2 or 3, therefore a dog has never even been a guest in this ole house...It’s not that I dislike dogs, just the opposite, I adore all animals it's just that a dog has never lived in our household...Now though, I’ve thought about it more than ever before.

What has changed her mind you might ask?


Well, this year I was looking for something to watch on TV one night, and happened upon the Westminster Dog Show and immediately got hooked watching it. You see, one of my all time favorite movies is Best in show...A movie which is a satirical spoof on those dog shows and all the crazy things that go on during that wild and wooly competition.


While watching the real thing I laughed thinking of this movie, comparing the real commentary with the movie commentary, the characters, the judges, what a strange compulsion these dog owners must have in real life and realized what an incredibly funny movie Best in Show really is. I have to admit I’ve since watched the Eukanuba Dog Show and look forward to both again next year. Those funny well-trained dogs stutting their stuff amid all the hoopla, the cheering of the crowds and the judges examinations, I found it simply amazing that they are so agreeable and compliant.


Actor/director Christopher Guest has made a howl of movie featuring a cast of characters, both the two-legged kind as well as those incredible 4-legged canines, guaranteed to make you laugh out loud.


As the "Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show" is about to begin all these characters converge to compete for the most prestigious prize...Harlan Pepper (Guest) is there with his beloved bloodhound, (though Harlan also wants to be a ventriloquist), Gerry and Cookie Fleck, (Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara) are there with their Norwich Terrier, a most adorable little dog, Winky...Trouble is, their credit card is not good and they have no money for their hotel room so the hotel manager (Ed Begley) feels sorry for them and puts them up in the broom closet. Then there is the young wealthy and very neurotic couple Meg and Michael (Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock) who are there with their even more neurotic dog, a Weimaraner, so spoiled by the couple they are in therapy with her, their beloved “Beatrice”. Two other featured couples and their little pooches are on hand, the outlandish gay couple, Stefan,(Michael McKean), and his life partner, Scott,(John Michael Higgens), with their little pooch love, Miss Agnes, the pampered Shih Tzu. Not to be forgotten are Sheri (Jennifer Coolidge, married to a very old man), with her friend, and dog trainer Christy (Jane Lynch), on hand with their outrageous standard poodle, Rhapsody in White, all coifed and trimmed to the nines, who, we suspect on the onset that there is more to this friendship than meets to eye. And, we find out later that our suspicions are correct.


As this cast of actors and dogs converge the competition begins as does these most comical performances. Sitting on the side lines is Fred Willard as one of the commentators with his most outrageous remarks and questions to the other commentator about the dogs, their handlers and what he thinks about them, most of which are improvised as is a good part of the movie itself.


The show goes on and appears in all aspects to be a real dog show; the judges, all the dogs and their presenters seem to portraying the real thing. It’s Willard’s comments and the back stage shenanigans that remind us we are watching a satirical movie, one that makes quite a comment on the world of Champion dog shows. When Beatrice snaps at one of the judges because she is in a bad mood, due to the fact that her precious toy is missing, she is disqualified. When Cookie twists her ankle after her dog won the breed competition and can’t compete with Winky, for “Best in Show” Gerry, goes on to walk her around the ring...Willard comments, does Gerry have 2 left feet? Yes, he does, another hilarious scene. When the poodle, Rhapsody in White, wins her breed competition and Christy plants a huge kiss right on Sherri’s very full lips, our suspicions are correct that these two are more than just friends.


As the commentary goes on, Fred Willard is outstanding with his inane remarks and questions...Especially when you remind yourself that it’s mostly all improvised, this parody, which is not the first for director Christopher Guest or this ensemble cast. Most of them appeared together before in another documentary, Waiting for Guffman, (a movie about a local community theater), which I stumbled upon one afternoon while channel surfing. I realized then just what a group of talented performers these actors are and marveled at how they could improvise practically the entire movies as they did these. (I found out by watching a making of short which followed, explaining about the improvisation).


Not only did Guest direct this hilarious film Best in Show but he wrote it as well along with Eugene Levy, at least the parts that weren’t improvised...I guess they just gave the actors an outline of what they wanted and just let them run away with it. And what job they did.


The question remains, which of these talented canines wins the "Best in Show" award?


I recommend this movie to anyone in the mood for a good laugh, whether you are a dog aficionado or not, the dogs are priceless and the laughs endless. Even for a cat lover like myself, who now would consider getting a dog, if my 3 felines would permit it. Yes, I do understand how an animal can rule the roost.





Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV