Best in Show (film)
Best in Show | |
---|---|
Directed by | Christopher Guest |
Written by | Christopher Guest Eugene Levy |
Produced by | Gordon Mark Karen Murphy |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Roberto Schaefer |
Edited by | Robert Leighton |
Music by | C. J. Vanston |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $10 million[1] |
Box office | $20.8 million[1] |
Best in Show is a 2000 American
Plot
Five dogs and their owners, trainers and handlers travel to Philadelphia to compete in the Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show.
Gerry and Cookie Fleck are a middle-class couple from
Meg and Hamilton Swan, a stereotypical yuppie couple from a Chicago suburb, arrive with their weimaraner Beatrice. Their constant doting and neurotic behavior toward Beatrice—for example, taking her to a psychotherapist after she sees them having sex in a position they learned from the Kama Sutra—confuses and upsets her.
Harlan Pepper, the affable
Sherri Ann Cabot is the buxom, overly-made-up
Scott Donlan and Stefan Vanderhoof are a campy gay couple who take great pride in their Shih Tzu Miss Agnes and are confident that she will win the competition. They share a love of old movies and enjoy making fun of Christy Cummings, but are friendly to the other competitors, especially the Flecks.
The dog show is hosted by dog expert Trevor Beckwith and oblivious "color" commentator Buck Laughlin, whose inane banter is completely lost on Beckwith. During the first round, Beatrice is disqualified when she becomes aggressive and Hamilton cannot control her, which the Swans chalk up to a dog toy of Beatrice's that they had lost prior to the show. The other four dogs advance to the final round. Just before the finals, Cookie dislocates her knee and insists that Gerry take over for her despite his two left feet (the result of a birth defect). Though Gerry is nervous, Winky ultimately takes Best in Show.
After the competition, Gerry and Cookie return home to Florida and enjoy brief fame there. While in a studio recording
Cast
Actors
- Eugene Levy as Gerry Fleck
- Catherine O'Hara as Cookie Fleck
- John Michael Higgins as Scott Donlan
- Michael McKean as Stefan Vanderhoof
- Michael Hitchcock as Hamilton Swan
- Parker Posey as Meg Swan
- Jennifer Coolidge as Sherri Ann Cabot
- Jane Lynch as Christy Cummings
- Christopher Guest as Harlan Pepper
- Larry Miller as Max Berman
- Linda Kash as Fay Berman
- Jim Piddock as Trevor Beckwith
- Fred Willard as Buck Laughlin
- Ed Begley Jr. as Mark Schafer
- Lynda Boyd as Cabot Party Guest
- Teryl Rothery as Philly AM Host
- Tony Alcantar as Philly AM Chef
- Camille Sullivan as Philly AM Assistant
- Patrick Cranshaw as Leslie Ward Cabot
- Will Sasso as Dale the Fishin' Hole Guy
- Bob Balaban as Theodore W. Millbank III
- Don Lake as Graham Chissolm
- Jay Brazeau as Dr. Chuck Nelken
- Hiro Kanagawa as Pet Shop Owner
- Don S. Davis as Mayflower Best in Show Judge Everett Bainbridge
- Rachael Harris as Winky's Party Guest
- Deborah Theaker as Winky's Party Guest
- Lewis Arquette as Fern City Show Spectator
- Colin Cunningham as New York Butcher
- Fulvio Cecere as Airport Passerby
- Carmen Aguirre as Taft Hotel Maid
- Peter Kelamis as Bartender (scene deleted)
- Fred Keating as Jack (scene deleted)
Dogs
The starring dogs listed are denoted by their registered names. All have earned the title Ch., indicating they have qualified for a championship at conformation shows, with most qualifying for the Canadian Kennel Club Championship—hence the prefix Can. The kennel prefix of one or more breeders precedes each dog's registered name; e. g. in "Arokat Echobar Take Me Dancing", the first breeder is "Arokat" and the second is "Echobar" while the name is "Take Me Dancing". The registered name differs from the dog's call name, which is used to talk to the animal. For example, Arokat Echobar Take Me Dancing's call name is "Peach".[2]
- Can Ch. Arokat Echobar Take Me Dancing - Beatrice the Weimaraner
- Can Ch. Urchin's Bryllo - Winky the Norwich Terrier
- Ch. Quiet Creek's Stand By Me - Hubert the Bloodhound
- Can Ch. Rapture's Classic - Miss Agnes the Shih Tzu
- Can Ch. Symarun's Red Hot Kisses - Tyrone the Shih Tzu
- Can Ch. Exxel's Dezi Duz It With Pizaz - Rhapsody in White (Butch) the Standard Poodle[3]
Production
Filming took place in Vancouver and Los Angeles. In a 2000 interview, Christopher Guest reflected, "Originally, we thought it would be easier to go to an actual dog show and film there, but nobody would let us do that."[4] Eugene Levy adds that, "We actually had to stage our own dog show. And that's where the nightmare started. We literally had to put everything together from scratch, get somebody to organize the whole show, get the dogs in, find trainers and so forth."[4]
The greater part of the film was improvised by the actors, with little to no planning. 60 hours of footage were filmed, as was the case with Guest's previous mockumentary Waiting for Guffman.[5] Levy said, "There is a much wider appeal for this movie than for Waiting for Guffman, which was a funny movie and a funny premise but not as accessible as this film, which is more mainstream. People just love dogs."[4]
Reception
Best in Show received critical acclaim. The film has a 93% approval rating on
The film opened to a weekend gross of $413,436 to 13 theatres with an average of $31,802 per theater. After opening to a total of 497 theaters, the film ended its run with a domestic total of $18,715,392. The foreign gross of $2,074,164 brought its total gross revenue to $20,789,556.[1]
Legacy
Best in Show was the inspiration for the broadcast of the National Dog Show, which has aired each Thanksgiving on NBC since 2002.[9]
To celebrate Halloween 2022, former Victorious castmates Ariana Grande and Elizabeth Gillies paid homage to Best in Show by recreating several scenes from the movie in which they each dressed up as multiple characters. After shooting in May, the results were then posted to Instagram on October 28 and drew praise from Jennifer Coolidge.[10]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Best in Show". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved April 27, 2012.
- ^ "CANCH, USCH Arokat Echobar Take Me Dancing NRD, NSD, V". weimaranerpedigrees.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-618-51752-7.
- ^ a b c "Best in Show : Production Notes". Cinema.com.
- ^ Koehler, Robert (June 8, 2001). "Best In Show". Variety. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ "Best In Show (2000)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
- CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^ Hynes, Eric (October 6, 2022). "70 Greatest Comedies of the 21st Century". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
- ^ "How the National Dog Show Won Thanksgiving". Philly Mag. November 10, 2018.
- ^ Huff, Lauren (October 28, 2022). "Ariana Grande wins blue ribbon from Jennifer Coolidge for Best in Show costume: 'F---ing great'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
Further reading
- Greiving, Tim (September 29, 2020). "The Oral History of 'Best in Show'". The Ringer. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
External links
- Official website
- Best in Show at the TCM Movie Database
- Best in Show at AllMovie
- Best in Show at IMDb
- Best in Show at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Best in Show at Rotten Tomatoes