Best in Show                                      Christopher Guest Director                                                  Cast                                               Christopher Guest Harlan Pepper Parker Posey Meg Swan Michael Hitchcock Hamilton Swan Eugene Levy Gerald "Gerry" Fleck Catherine O'Hara Cookie Guggelman Fleck Fred Willard Buck Laughlin                                     Other Information                                     2000 89 Minutes Rated PG-13 In English

Best in Show  was nominated in the "Best Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy" category at the Golden Globe Awards last year, and it is not difficult to see why. The premise of this modest film is very straightforward, but it works surprisingly well. Best in Show should properly be regarded as a mocumentary; its quarry is wacky and highly unusual world of competitive dog showing. The "documentary" film crew follows five different sets of participants from across America as they prepare for and take part in the prestigious Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show. The remarkably diverse cast of characters is sketched in intentionally broad strokes; the dog owners are not so much characters as they are caricatures. Because of the film's free-flowing structure, much of the dialogue was improvised by the cast as the camera was rolling. This is quite appropriate, though, because it is nearly impossible to satirize a subject while striving for objectivity and realism.

Christopher Guest, probably best known for his films Waiting for Guffman and This Is Spinal Tap, works overtime in Best in Show, getting his name in the credits as both an actor and a director. Stealing the show, however, is Fred Willard as the Dog Show's clueless, sarcastic commentator. Anyone with an appreciation for satirical, deadpan humor and colorful, zany characters will surely enjoy Best in Show.

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