Best in Show
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Movie Reviews of Best in Show
Movie Review: My favorite "mockumentary" by Christopher Guest
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the best comedies I have ever seen.The premise of the movie is a documentary following five dogs, and their "eccentric" (I am being kind!) owners/handlers, bringing the dogs to a championship dog show.
I really enjoyed this partly because I have been to dozens of dog shows myself, and have seen vitual carbon copies of most of the characters portrayed in the movie. This movie has characters a bit over the top, but they remind me of people I have seen, and heard of in local show circuits.
Brief descriptions of some characters (they are all too deep to try and describe in a few words)... One yuppie couple is obsessed with catalog shopping and Starbucks. There is a wealthy owner/arrogant handler pairing. A southern man with his bloodhound. Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy as a mismatched couple that write songs about terriers. A gay couple portrayed by Michael McKean and John Michael Higgins steal the show in my opinion. There is not a bad performance in this film.
John Michael Higgins' flamboyance and one liners, Catherine O'Hara's promiscuous past, Eugene Levy's two left feet, The search for "busy bee" - great stuff.
Most of the script is improvised, which is almost unbelievable to me because of the great dialogue.
Fred Willard is hilarious as the know nothing co host/tv announcer.
The outtakes and director/writer commentary add to the feature.
This movie is funny the first time, and tenth time you watch it. Really exceptional.
Movie Review: Ensemble, Improv, Outrageous
Summary: 5 Stars
Tell the truth! there aren't very many movies that are really worth owning. Sure, you've gotAkira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (Shichinin No Samurai) ~ Original Theatrical Version [Import, All-region] (Dvd), but how many times are you going to watch it?
Well, this perfectly silly movie is one that you may watch so often that you start to memorize the dialog. What makes it so addictive is the utter seriousness of the characters about their very small world. Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy have created a compelling blank screen-the world of competitive dog shows-on which their regular cast of characters can project themselves and (gasp!) illuminate us as well.
You'll flip for Parker Posey's description of a courtship whose basis is the lovers having two different coffee shops together. You will probably recognize the gay couple who whose roles lead to an inevitable tension and the 40 year old virgin married to the well-travelled woman who keeps stumbling on her old lovers.
Tom Wolfe The Pumphouse Gang talked about folks creating small worlds in which to feel big. Best in Show is one of those worlds, it's earnestly felt and hilarious.
Lynn Hoffman, author of bang BANG: A Novel and New Short Course in Wine,The
Movie Review: Dog, Hubby and I Loved It & Watched It en famille
Summary: 5 Stars
Are we as besotted with our dog as these folks? Close, I must admit. Inbetween laughing ourselves silly, I felt a slight nudge of discomfort over being not that far removed from these characters. Fortunately, we have a mutt so we can't enter a dog show which is the focus of this film. Dog shows: what a world! It's hard to say who is funniest, everyone involved is so hilarious, from the owners to the people who run the show to the media and so on down the line. The dog owners are quirky characters to a person. There are married couples, a gay couple, a lesbian couple and, of course, one from each couple is assigned to show the dog in the ring. Plus they all stay in the same hotel which allows dogs due to the annual show. There's also a dog shrink with the dog owners and the dog seeing him. We actually knew a psychologist for people who shared space with a dog shrink so this is true to home as well. There is an announcer from the media who is Mr. Obnoxious who will say absolutely anything no matter how insulting or inappropriate. Fred Willard, who played him, almost walked away with the movie in that role. Although this is a spoof of a documentary I think you could actually fool some people into thinking it was a real documentary. I enjoyed this as much as Errol Morris's "Gates of Heaven," a real documentary about pet cemetaries and the owners of the deceased pets. That is a huge compliment because Morris's work is brilliant.Movie Review: I Want to Be an Actor in a Guest Movie When I Grow Up, Dad!
Summary: 5 Stars
Having seen all the Christopher Guest movies, I'm now prepared to respond if some day, one of my kids tells me they want to be a professional actor. Now I can say, "Go for it, work to be the best you can be, and perhaps one day you'll get a call from Christopher Guest."
I'm a huge fan of all the Guest "mock-umentaries." He mixes the perfect blend of satire and respect, so that you laugh your lungs out at the brilliant spoofing of the people and the topic being spoofed, but you can't help but love these people at the same time. This one and "A Mighty Wind" are my favorites, with "Spinal Tap," a close third, and "Waiting for Guffman," bringing up the rear. I'm thrilled to hear he's working on another one.
I'm always excited whenever I see one of the Guest gang (O'Hara, Levy, Lynch, Higgins, Willard, Posey, etc.) in another film. Much has been written about the talent he attracts, and it is spectacular to watch. With the visual media these days chock full of BS like gorgeous looking crime scene investigators and cute assistant district attorney's, it is so refreshing to see raw talent brought to the screen in these movies. There wasn't any music in this movie, but catch some of the musical performances in some of the others - by the actors themselves !! - brilliant.
An extra bonus with movies like "Best in Show," is that you see so much more you didn't see the first time in subsequent viewings.
Movie Review: Welcome to our Obsession!
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't know if you ever been dropped into a subculture, but it is a strange and unnerving experience. People's obsessions with....whatever....are often bizarre because their tight little world of like-minded obsessives never allow them to see the essential absurdity of their seriousness in these loony pursuits.Christopher Guest of "This is Spinal Tap", "Waiting for Guffman", and some of the most original, hysterical, and wryly observed pieces (with Billy Crystal & others) ever done on SNL, drops us into the world of Dog Shows and it is terrifically funny.
There are laugh-out-loud lines, brilliantly wry and deadpan deliveries by an ensemble cast of gifted comedic improvisers, and characters served up with irony, but also with warmth. This last is what makes the film endearing beyond being one of the funniest films in a long while. Guest & Co. love these characters and the performances, while absurd, do not demean or debase these people. There is great affection for their nutty pursuits.
It may have been mostly improvised and not scripted, but it holds up better than most scripts after they have been hammered by a dozen different writers. It moves nicely flowing from bemusement to belly laughs. It's humor is human & true and natural, and a nice antidote for the trite, expletive-laden, lowball trash that passes for comedy most of the time.