Best in Show (2000)
90%RT Audience Score: 89%
Awards & Nominations: 11 wins & 14 nominations
A fine example of writer-director-star Christopher Guest’s gift for improv comedy, Best in Show boasts an appealingly quirky premise and a brilliantly talented cast.
Best in Show” is a doggone hilarious mockumentary that will have you howling with laughter. With a talented ensemble cast, including the unforgettable Fred Willard as the off-color commentator Buck Laughlin, this film is a true pedigree. While some critics may bark about the use of sex as a source of comedy, the film still manages to be spontaneous, funny, and surprising. It’s a bit grownup, but even cat lovers might adore this comedy. So sit, stay, and enjoy the show!
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Aldergrove, British Columbia, Canada
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for language and sex-related material
Year of Release
2000
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital SDDS
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 30m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 29, 2000 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 23, 2003
Genre(s)
Comedy/Lgbtq+
Keyword(s)
starring Michael Hitchcock, Parker Posey, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Christopher Guest, John Michael Higgins, Fred Willard, Jim Piddock, Jane Lynch, Karen Murphy, directed by Christopher Guest, written by Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, comedy, LGBTQ+, box office performance, budget, reviewed by David Ansen, Nell Minow, Mark Bourne, Bruce Newman, Steven D Greydanus, Marc Savlov, David Nusair, A.S Hamrah, Tom Meek, Mark Steyn, PG-13, Mayflower Dog Show, canine contestants, owners, diverse, Warner Bros Pictures, SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS, Surround, Dolby SR, Flat (1.85:1)
Worldwide gross: $20,789,556
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $36,057,734
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,487
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 3,932,141
US/Canada gross: $18,715,392
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $32,460,271
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,250
US/Canada opening weekend: $413,436
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $717,070
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,320
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $10,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $17,344,158
Production budget ranking: 1,440
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $9,339,829
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $9,373,747
ROI to date (est.): 35%
ROI ranking: 1,217
Parker Posey – Meg Swan
Eugene Levy – Gerry Fleck
Catherine O’Hara – Cookie Fleck
Christopher Guest – Harlan Pepper
John Michael Higgins – Scott
Director(s)
Christopher Guest
Writer(s)
Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy
Producer(s)
Karen Murphy
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
11 wins & 14 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (116) | Top Critics (36) | Fresh (108) | Rotten (8)
Guest seems to know just how far he can stretch reality without losing the crucial texture of verisimilitude. This is a comedy even cat lovers might adore.
March 7, 2018
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
Hilarious and offbeat, but humor is pretty grownup.
October 14, 2010 | Rating: 3/5
Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
TOP CRITIC
…it’s always a pleasure to watch this ensemble of gifted talents do what they do best — be spontaneous and funny and surprising. What we get is a master-class demonstration of the distinction between comic actors and comedians who try to act.
February 8, 2008
Mark Bourne
Film.com
TOP CRITIC
July 9, 2005 | Rating: 3/4
Bruce Newman
San Jose Mercury News
TOP CRITIC
What a pity that with such funny material, Guest and company found it necessary to rely so heavily on sex as a supplementary source of comedy.
May 8, 2002 | Rating: C-
Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films
TOP CRITIC
February 9, 2002 | Rating: 3.5/5
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
…often feels much, much longer than its 90 minutes…
June 17, 2021 | Rating: 1.5/4
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Parker Posey’s high-strung yuppie sums up decades of American culture: “We are so lucky to have been raised amongst catalogs.”
September 16, 2020
A.S. Hamrah
The Baffler
Willard plays a color commentator at a Philadelphia dog show, whose observations are off-color and belly-grabbing hilarious – the whole film’s one big, shaggy guffaw.
May 29, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4
Tom Meek
Cambridge Day
The film-makers have hung their satire on a slender and oh so familiar conceit – that dog-show types project their ambitions and their vanities onto their mutts.
January 25, 2018
Mark Steyn
The Spectator
The first 45 minutes are amusing enough, but the movie ascends to another level with the second-half introduction of Fred Willard as commentator Buck Laughlin.
February 23, 2013 | Rating: 3.5/4
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing
The real pedigree doesn’t even arrive until halfway through. Fred Willard’s unforgettable dim-bulb commentator takes aim at TV’s injection of “sports drama” into competitions where, quite simply, there is none. (Here’s looking at you, Joe Garagiola.)
September 25, 2010 | Rating: 4/4
Nick Rogers
The Film Yap…
Plot
At the prestigious Mayflower Dog Show, a “documentary film crew” captures the excitement and tension displayed by the eccentric participants in the outrageously hilarious satire Best In Show. This biting send-up exposes the wondrously diverse dog owners who travel from all over America to showcase their four-legged contenders. Mild-mannered salesman Gerry Fleck (Eugene Levy) and his vivacious wife, Cookie (Catherine O’Hara), happily prepare their Norwich Terrier, while shop owner Harlan Pepper (Christopher Guest) hopes his Bloodhound wins top prize. As two upwardly mobile attorneys (Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock) anxiously ready their neurotic Weimaraner and an ecstatically happy gay couple (Michael McKean and John Michael Higgins) dote on their tiny Shih Tzu, inept commentator Buck Laughlin (Fred Willard) vainly attempts to provide colorful tidbits about each breed.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fred Willard’s performance as the brash and clueless commentator is a highlight of the film.
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