Best in Show

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Sometimes it can be hard to trust trailers. Especially comedies. The best jokes are condensed into 60 seconds and when you finally see the movie you realize how much filler it contains. Not so with Best in Show. It's a spoof documentary from Christopher Guest, creator of one of the world's finest: This Is Spinal Tap

Guest's cast improvises around the Mayflower Dog Show in Philadelphia. Pampered, quirky dogs come from all parts of the country to compete, parented by equally oddball owners. The film does resemble a trailer, insofar as it is a connection of hilarious skits with no real momentum. Everybody's a minor character. And the majority are very funny: the loser husband with two left feet and his loose wife (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara); Seattle yuppies who take their dog to counseling (Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock); a bimbo married to an octogenarian (Jennifer Coolidge); an undereducated dog show sportscaster (Fred Willard). The list goes on. Guest demonstrates an unusual fondness for these goofballs. This warmth probably flows from the film's improvisational base, and serves to make Best in Show a thoroughly enjoyable sketch in silliness.