Film Screening 9th August, 2001

Poster for Best In Show

Best In Show 

8:00 PM, 9th August, 2001

  • PG
  • 90 mins
  • 2000
  • Christopher Gues
  • Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy
  • Christopher Guest, Parker Posey, Michael Hitchcock, Eugene Levy

There's a bloodhound, a shih tsu, a Norwich terrier, a Weimeraner, and a poodle (called, and I should stress that I'm not responsible for this name, Rhapsody in White). What more do you want? If the thought of a mockumentary full of cute little doggies doesn't make you feel all warm and tingly then frankly, we don't want you in the theatre. Go home and fill out a corporate tax return.
But wait! There is more to this film than dogs! There are also dog owners. Cheap stereotypes abound: the shih tsu's owners are gay, the poodle's owner is rich and shallow, the terrier's owners make everyone else in Florida look cultured, the poor Weimeraner is at the mercy of two Starbucks-frequenting yuppies, the bloodhound's owner is a third-rate amateur ventriloquist from the South who's obsessed with "naming nuts" ... well, perhaps some stereotypes are more obvious than others. Anyway: the owners are funny, and the two reporters at the Mayflower Dog Show are even funnier. The entire cast is perfectly deadpan. There's something here even for cat people.

Henry Fitzgerald