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Best in Show

Castle Rock Entertainment: Directed by Christopher Guest. Written by Guest and Eugene Levy. 90 minutes. PG-13

 

Pit Bull
Yeah, that's right; I actually LIKED Best of Show, and if you're not completely besotted with putrescent Hollywood juvenilia and pop culture trash, so will you. Christopher Guest's almost-successful attempt at genuine satire is a breath of fresh air, but, of course, if you prefer garbage, what do I care? Go see Austin Powers.

Not that Best in Show isn't flawed. In this exquisitely crafted sneer at hapless dog show freaks Guest sometimes crosses the line between satire and schtick. In Waiting for Guffman (a much better movie) he avoided anthropological condescension by skewering BOTH the hip and the rubes. More importantly, Guffman goes beyond merely heaving up a parade of amusing caricatures; it savages the pretensions those who fancy themselves a part of the creative elite.

Hey, I'm a not exactly a sensitive guy, but even I couldn't help squirming a little during Best in Show as Guest took a whack at such fat, slow-moving targets - it's rather like making fun of geeks - it's unseemly and just too easy. Plus, once again the snotty, post-collegiate, baby boomer cognoscenti takes it upon themselves to enlighten the hoi polloi as to what is cool and what isn't. Gimme a break.

 

 

Epicurean Hound

Oh, for cryin' out loud - lighten up! Comedy is hard to do and Guest succeeded admirably in creating a film that didn't have a loser scene in it. When was the last time you saw a film that managed to stay funny from beginning to end? Name one! I mean, think of all the lame filler in Night at the Opera, Bringing Up Baby, Something About Mary and Flirting with Disaster - in every one of those films you had to wade through a lot of dreck to get to the funny stuff. I don't know what theater YOU were in, but when I saw the Best in Show people were rolling in the isles. Maybe if you spent less energy carping you might even learn to enjoy yourself.

For those of us who haven't lost the capacity to appreciate things for what they are, watching Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, John Michael Higgins and Fred Willard strutt their stuff was pure pleasure. The bits, though a little like Saturday night live skits, were crisp and vicously funny. Bravo for an oustanding effort!