Cast (in credits order) verified as complete
Best in Show Movie Trailer
Best in Show Film (2000) Official Trailer - Catherine O'Hara Movie
Best in Show Movie Description
In Best in Show Movie (2000) Directed by Christopher Guest. Written by Guest and Eugene Levy.
Starring Parker Posey, Michael Hitchcock, Levy, Catherine O'Hara, John Michael Higgins, Michael McKean, Guest and Fred Willard. Running Time: 90 minutes Rated PG-13
Dog people, and the dogs that own them, are often amusing in real life. But in the hands of master mock documentarist Christopher Guest, the amusement is marvelously magnified.
(Guest practically invented the "mockumentary" with his 1984 rock band send-up, "This is Spinal Tap.")
In the days leading up to the Mayfair Kennel Club Dog Show, several sets of contestants make their way to Philadelphia to realize a dream of being "Best in Show."
There's a pair of New York yuppies (Posey and Hitchcock) who are even higher strung than their willful weimaraner.
A gay couple (Higgins and McKean) shows up to show off their shih tzu. A Florida husband and wife (Levy and O'Hara) make the trip with their terrier, discovering along the way that every man they meet is one of her former lovers.
And finally, springing fully-grown from a country music song, lonely guy Harlan Pepper (Guest) arrives from North Carolina in a pickup truck with his droop-faced bloodhound.
Once at the show, the odd assortment of owners conduct their canines toward a "best in show" showdown, where brilliantly inept color commentary is provided by Buck Laughlin (Willard).
Even though fairly well known actors play the primary roles, Guest achieves a documentary feel, mainly because much of the dialogue seems improvised.
As writer-director, he deserves credit, either for writing sharp dialogue, or for directing in a way that inspires creativity in his actors.
Some of the best lines come from Posey and Hitchcock, the yuppie couple who met when their eyes locked as they sipped coffee at separate but close-by Starbucks, and whose pooch becomes paranoid whenever they get intimate in its presence.
The other cast members ably deliver lines that define their quirky characters. Especially good is O'Hara as a woman with a past who is nonetheless devoted to spouse Levy, who literally has two left feet.
Even the background extras, probably real-life dog handlers, are fascinating to watch, and seem to inhabit their own documentaries, waiting for their own close-ups.
The last third of the Best in Show Movie brings the entire cast together for the "Best in Show" competition.
This is where Willard, who seems to have wandered in from a slow day at the XFL, delivers his wildly comic commentary, which amazes and befuddles his more serious partner.
(For a while, there was actually some Oscar buzz for Willard's performance here.) Though the Best in Show film pokes fun at the dog show circuit, it also reveals a fondness for the people involved.
It may not inspire you to become a dog show person, but it just may have you looking in the classifieds to see when the next real-life show is coming to your town.
This is the best of the films (so far) that Christopher Guest has created using his very talented ensemble cast.
Previously, they'd made the excellent WAITING FOR GUFFMAN and following BEST IN SHOW, they made the very enjoyable A MIGHTY WIND. As for their latest, FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION, the less said the better.
The Best in Show film appears to be a documentary about dog shows and several contestants in particular.
You follow these few chosen dogs from pre-show preparations all the way to the big night where one of them is chosen best in show at the fictitious "Mayflower Kennel Club".
However, none of these people are real dog show enthusiasts but talent improvisational actors that parody many of the common types of people you meet in the dog show world.
Amazingly, even though the characters are rather outlandish, there is a lot of truth to the personalities they are parodying--as decades ago I had some experience with dog shows and this is a VERY cutthroat group of people! My favorites of the dog owners were the incredibly high-pressure and tense yuppie couple who just exuded anger and volatility.
I also loved the openly gay couple, as they were terribly funny and clever. However, the best performance probably wasn't from any of the couples but from Fred Willard who played the world's stupidest and least talented announcer in human history.
His comments were uniformly inane and often betrayed him as an incredibly stupid person--how he got to be the announcer for such a prestigious show is anyone's guess.
The other contestants featured were also quite funny--the high-priced professional poodle handler and its rich owner, the country boy and his hound as well as Winkie's "parents" who could barely scrape together enough to make it to the show.
Despite the improvised style of film making, the pieces all fit together wonderfully and told a very funny and compelling story--one that is NOT for dog owners only.
Exceptional acting made this one of the best comedies of the last decade. Clever and consistently funny.
Just before turning in, the girlfriend said if I was still working late I should take a break and turn on the TV. The Best in Show would be on and although he hadn't seen it, he'd heard it got great reviews.
I kept working and forgot the time. The TV was on but I ignored it. Suddenly I started hearing this very strange dialogue.
'We like the same things - soup, snow peas, talking - and not talking.' I thought to myself 'what is this - some kind of weird porn Best in Show Movie?' And I continued to ignore it for a while until I heard Levy and Begley Jr.'s voices. Then I remembered what the girlfriend had said.
I quickly looked up the Best in Show film on IMDb and was surprised to see who was behind it: Christopher Guest aka Nigel Tufnell, the guy with the extra-loud guitar amplifier. I knew I was lucky I was still awake to see it.
Before turning back to the Best in Show Movie I did two more checks at IMDb: number of awards and nominations and box office.
Not surprisingly it was a low-budget venture, and not surprisingly it garnered several awards and nominations. The studio made a profit from it, but it's pocket change compared to the big blockbuster.
Still, it must be kind of like Woody Allen and Orion: movies like this make studios look good.
On film: It's a riot, a bloody riot. It might not be your cuppa, but then okay - brush it off or look for something else. But there's a lot of it - it plays a bit like an Altman. There is a lot in hand as well.
And when you finally get to the show Fred Willard comes in and takes it away. He uses Jim Piddock as a foil - in fact he uses almost everything as a foil.
And if you think his portrayal is too much, consider the fact that it's a copy of the actual commentator on a show like this.
This type of Best in Show movie is either extraordinarily difficult or admirably easy, and I suspect it's a bit of both.
Some skits are over the top, and inspire acting everywhere you look. I believe that Posie is precious in a pet store - and not just her job but that of the shop assistant as well. Amazing stuff.
Much of my sympathy went to Begley Jr., the receptionist at the hotel. Meeting all these strange types and trying to remain friendly and representative - it's difficult, if not impossible. It has some very strange characters.
And you might be asking yourself 'see the joke about the dog show and its participants?' And that's the whole point - it's hilarious; It's a riot.