Fellman's Movie Reviews

Best in Show is a mockumentary comedy, keeping in the style of “This is Spinal Tap”. The film was written by Eugene Levy and Christopher Guest. Christopher Guest, of course, was one of the stars of “This is Spinal Tap”. As was Michael McKean, who also has a starring role in this film, although he isn’t one of the writers of the movie. Also, like “This is Spinal Tap”, a lot of the dialogue in the movie was improvised to keep the spontaneity of the characters alive on film as if they were being recorded in real time.  

Part of what makes a movie like this so great, and all of Christopher Guest’s movies, is how the characters all blend so seamlessly with each other. The contestants rarely ever meet each other in the movie, but you don’t really notice because you’re so caught up in their individual stories. I can only think of a few scenes where the separate dog owners actually talk to the other dog owners. Usually, they’re off doing their own thing and preparing for their own part in the competition.  

One of my favorite characters in the whole movie is Fred Willard’s character, the announcer, Buck Laughlin. Fred Willard is usually great in everything he does, but he’s especially great in this movie. And it makes it even better when you realize that he came up with most of it on the spot and just said whatever was coming to his mind at that moment. And his partner, the straight man in the routine, Jim Paddock, who plays the other announcer, Trevor Beckwith. His facial expressions and dry British responses really take those bits, where those two are announcing, to a whole other level.  

But it does give a good look into what those shows can be like. Because if you know anything about what dog shows are like, and the rigorous training those people put those poor dogs through, it’s a little crazy how hectic and uptight the whole thing can get. Eugene Levy said he wanted to go and shoot the thing at an actual dog show, but there weren’t any dog shows that would let them do it. Probably because of how stringent and inflexible those things can be. So, they had to put on their own dog show to shoot the movie.  

So, yeah. Go and see Best in Show. If you like dogs, (and who doesn’t?) You’ll love this movie. It won multiple awards for comedy in several places, and it has a 92% on RottenTomatoes.com. That isn’t official or anything, but it’s a good indicator of what’s good and what isn’t. And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…