A Warner Brothers Release of a Castle Rock Entertainment Production; Executive Produced by Gordon mark; Produced by Karen Murphy; Written by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy; Directed by Christopher Guest.
Opens September 27, 2000
Few directors trust actors the way Christopher Guest does, yet it is this tacit understanding of what actors can do -- given the right structure -- that allows Guest to turn out such delightful material. Having pioneered the mockumentary genre with Rob Reiner in the cult classic This Is Spinal Tap, Guest returned to the arena with the hilarious Waiting for Guffman. In his most recent effort, Best In Show, he and co-writer Eugene Levy focus on an unlikely setting -- the world of professional dog shows -- and, with the help of a brilliant cast, find humor to spare.
There are many familiar faces in Best In Show, suggesting that, like Woody Allen, Guest keeps them coming back. Perhaps Guffman alumni Bob Balaban best sums up how most actors feel about working for the director. As he claims, when Guest asked him to be in the movie, I said I'd be happy to be a dog -- I would do anything. It's this sort of devotion among his actors that brings such energy and imagination to the work. Actors trust Guest because he trusts them and, in the process, some amazing things can happen.
Those amazing things come out of the story itself, which is relatively un-scripted as was Guffman. Guest and Levy gave the actors a rough outline, a way of getting from point A to point B. Whatever happened beyond that was gravy. And what gravy it is. The story, slight as it is, revolves around a disparate group of dog owners/handlers, all of whom are eagerly preparing for the Mayflower Dog Show in Philadelphia. In the opening scene, we meet uptight yuppies Hamilton Swan (Michael Hitchcock) and his shrill wife Meg (Parker Posey), whose Weimaraner Beatrice has been depressed ever since she saw them having sex. (It was doggie style.)
In direct contrast to the Hamiltons and their neurotic pup are gay couple Scott Donlan (John Michael Higgins) and his hairstylist partner Stefan Vanderhoof (Michael McKean), whose glossy Shih Tzus reflect their flamboyant lifestyle. Christopher Guest himself shows up as good old boy Harlan Pepper with his trusty Bloodhood Hubert, while SCTV pros Levy and Catherine O'Hara are Gerry and Cookie Fleck, a suburban Florida couple who are enthusiastic cheerleaders for their adorable Norwich terrier Winky. Rounding out this quirky bunch is voluptuous Sherri Ann Cabot (Jennifer Coolidge), whose trainer Christy Cummings (Jane Lynch) has led her poodle Rhapsody in White to victory two years in a row.
As with Waiting for Guffman, story isn't really what's important here. It's the characters who count, and we learn about them in all-too-intimate ways through candid documentary interviews before and during the dog show. And just what do we learn? Mostly outrageously silly things like the fact that Gerry Fleck has two left feet -- literally -- and that Harlan has a talent for ventriloquism. Or how about this little glimpse into Meg's J.Crew-dominated universe: We're so lucky to have been raised amongst catalogues.
All these moments are played out with utter seriousness, although one can tell that everyone is having loads of fun. As Guest says, the script simply gives a very solid blue print to the actors?.how they do it is largely up to them. It's the how they do it that makes this film such a joy to watch because, as with all improvisation, you never quite know what to expect. This spontaneity works beautifully within the dog show framework. In one sequence, Hamilton and Meg go ballistic blaming each other for losing Beatrice's favorite toy Busy Bee, while in another scene, Scott and Stefan argue about how many kimonos to pack for the trip. And let's not forget comedian Fred Willard, who gets off more