Movie of the Week: Best in Show

Alexa: Though he will probably always be best known for “This Is Spinal Tap,” mockumentary auteur Christopher Guest is in equally fine form with “Best in Show.” A national dog show is the perfect backdrop for his absurd brand of humor because it’s rife with offbeat characters made all the more hilarious by their intense passion for their pets. They’re essentially pageant parents to their furry children, each with their own strange motivations. Much of Guest’s regular band of actors is present here, and they’re all experts at navigating his quirky brand of humor. He always gives his cast a lot of room for improvisation, which in this case makes the talking head segments in particular feel distinctly natural. The characters are all fully realized down to every last comic detail (Parker Posey’s braces, Eugene Levy’s Norwich terrier baseball cap), which elevates them beyond caricatures into something more intentional, and the movie is all the more hilarious for it. After all, it’s the people and their fervent competitive drive that propel the story forward. The dogs are just along for the ride.

Joel: I’ll be upfront that I’m not a very big fan of the mockumentary genre. It’s a tricky style of humor and more often than not, you’ll see the idea only being used as a shortcut to cover technical limitations. That being said, if you’re going to watch a mockumentary, the ones that have been made by Christopher Guest are probably your best bet. And of that group, Best in Show is probably one of the best alongside This is Spinal Tap. (By the way, Best in Show makes a great reference to Spinal Tap that really got me) What’s great about these movies, is that the plot and main setting are almost background to the movie. You don’t need to have any real interest in dog shows to be able to enjoy the movie as the main attraction is the characters. You get a whole group of them here that range from those that are just slightly askew, to full blown ridiculousness with others.

One of the reasons that Guest’s mockumentaries are so well received is the attention that’s given to making them feel like a legitimate documentary. Talking head segments are not just used as a shortcut to allow a character to express their motivation directly into the camera. No, the tools of a documentary are used here to their full effect, creating a movie that flows the way a nonfiction story would. A large part of this is the amount of improv that is allowed and encouraged for these movies. There are several lines throughout the movie that feel like they were off the cuff, but it’s staggering to realize just how much of the movie was improvised. The script/outline for the movie was only sixteen pages long meaning that it isn’t just the jokes that are improvised, but almost all of the dialogue and interactions. These actors clearly have put a great deal of work into creating these characters and it pays off. The end product is one of the better examples of what a mockumentary can be when it’s being made by one of the best.

Chris: This movie kinda fell flat for me, perhaps I missed the boat on it or maybe it was overhyped by people that had been huge fans of it and built it up to be this great comedy. And it does have its good and funny moments but it doesn't quite live up to the hype that I had heard for years. Honestly, the only thing I remembered about this movie previously to this viewing was being annoyed that it was the only thing on Comedy Central during the day. Now that I actually sat down and watched it, I found myself getting more annoyed than amused by the characters. I understand all the great points made by my fellow reviewers and they're not wrong, it's a well made mockumentary but it just wasn't my cup of tea. And now Jason is gonna do a bit...so strap in.

Jason: I have always loved dog shows. It has long been a Thanksgiving tradition in my family to watch the National Dog Show after the parade was over. This documentary really gets behind the curtain and gives us a look at the people responsible for those amazing dogs. I feel like they chose a good variety of owners and handlers to follow to show just how different each competitor’s environment can be. I wonder if they followed more than the few they focused on and then only chose to keep the ones who made it to Best in Show. I must say, it is unusual to see owners actually handling the dogs at a show that large. Typically, if they make it past all the smaller, local and regional shows, they use a handler that can be more objective during the actual competition. I feel that was the downfall of the Weimaraner in this particular case.

Overall, I feel this film was effective in giving a look at a side of these shows that people don't usually see. It felt a bit gratuitous at times and I think they could have focused a little more on the dogs. But I enjoyed it all the same.