Best in Show
By Nell Minow,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Hilarious and offbeat, but humor is pretty grownup.
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What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
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What's the Story?
Director Christopher Guest takes on the competitive dog show world in the mockumentary BEST IN SHOW. Married uptight lawyers the Swans (Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock) own a neurotic Weimaraner named Beatrice, who just hasn't been the same since she saw them having sex. Cookie Fleck (Catherine O'Hara) is a woman with a ribald past who owns a Norwich terrier and is married to a man with, literally, two left feet (Eugene Levy). Happy couple Stefan and Scott (Michael McKean and John Michael Higgins) are the owners of an adorable Shih Tzu. Sherri Ann (Jennifer Coolidge) is a trophy wife and the owner of the reigning champ. Her dog's trainer, Cristy Cummings (Jane Lynch) handles more than the dog. Guest plays a Southern bait-and-tackle store owner with a bloodhound. And Fred Willard appears as the hopelessly untalented announcer.
Is It Any Good?
Fans of offbeat humor will get a big kick out of Guest's follow-up to Waiting for Guffman, but there may be more appreciative "Oh, that's funny!" comments than outright laughs. Best in Show features Guest's repertory company of top-notch improvisational actors, who mostly create their own characters and dialogue after Guest outlines the story. This gives his movies a wonderful sense of depth, as it really seems that we're getting brief glimpses of real people who are just as interesting when the camera isn't on them. But it also means that the humor tends to come from small moments and from character rather than from jokes. O'Hara is a delight as Cookie, and one of Best in Show's best running jokes is that almost everyone she meets rapturously recalls some past amorous encounter with her. And Coolidge is sensational as a cross between Lady Macbeth and Anna Nicole Smith.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the style of Best in Show. What is a mockumentary? What exactly is this movie mocking? What kind of humor do the actors use?
Where else have you seen these actors? Do they always play the same kinds of roles? What sets many of these actors apart from other Hollywood stars?
How is the film both mocking and generous to its characters? How has the writing managed to present them as complex characters while also generating laughs from their foibles?
Movie Details
- In theaters: October 29, 2000
- On DVD or streaming: May 15, 2001
- Cast: Jay Brazeau , Michael Hitchcock , Parker Posey , Jennifer Coolidge
- Director: Christopher Guest
- Inclusion Information: Female actors
- Studio: Warner Bros.
- Genre: Comedy
- Topics: Cats, Dogs, and Mice
- Run time: 90 minutes
- MPAA rating: PG-13
- MPAA explanation: language and sex-related material.
- Last updated: April 21, 2023
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