Best in Show

MPA Rating: PG-13-Rating (MPA)

for language and sex-related material.

Reviewed by: Jonathan Bergstrom
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating:	Very Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:	Teen to Adult
Genre:	Comedy
Length:	1 hr. 30 min.
Year of Release:	2000
USA Release:

Relevant Issues

Jane Lynch and Jennifer Coolidge in “Best in Show”

What’s wrong with being gay? Answer

What does the Bible say about same sex marriages? Answer

Can a gay person go to heaven? Answer

What should be the attitude of the church toward homosexuals and homosexuality? Answer

Featuring	Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Parker Posey, Michael Hitchcock, Catherine O’Hara
Director	Christopher Guest, Roberto Schaffer
Producer	Gordon Mark, Karen Murphy
Distributor	Castle Rock Entertainment

What is more amusing than a subculture of people whose one passion in life is dog shows? This movie is for the strangely amused, as it is in no way conventional. It humorously mocks the story of the lives of several individuals bent on having the best dog in show. Director Christopher Guest has carved a niche in the movie making business as the artist of “Mockumenetaries”. His style is that of 60 minutes with a big boost on stupidity throughout. He plays off of the absurdities of what the people on this planet find to occupy their time. Although a completely stupid movie, I could not stop laughing. Guest’s style is one that I enjoyed more in his first movie “Waiting for Guffman”. And I would certainly recommend renting that one before testing your appetite for Guest at the movie theater.

The movie follows its subjects on their path to glory in winning the acclaimed Mayflower Dog Show. Documentary style interviews are mostly impromptu, as hardly any of this movie was scripted. If you enjoy the offbeat humor that normally accompanies improv British theater, you are a good candidate for Guest’s humor. He is very sarcastic, and it is laid on heavy in this movie.

If you are looking for a well-written, slick Hollywood production, this will certainly miss the mark. If you are creative enough, you can watch this movie as a display of good improvising and on the spot writing; although it sometimes falls short. I would have to stretch pretty far to try and assimilate a good moral or lesson from this movie. At best, I can say that it puts into perspective just how meaningless life can become when living without a purpose. It is mostly harmless as long as you can shrug off a bit of over-the-top homosexual behavior (see comments below for more details). Overall, it lends a kick in the pants and a great big “stop-taking-life-so-seriously”.

I COMPLETELY regret seeing this movie. From the opening scene it was full of junk; there was very little redeemable in this movie. Almost all of the humor was totally sick—if not all. The whole thing was just built around all the garbage they could try and stuff into one movie. I wonder how sick the people who wrote, produced, etc must be if they thought it was enjoyable? As a Christian, I completely regret allowing all that stuff into my mind. I strongly urge you—do NOT rent this movie EVER. Afterwards (and during), I was sickened by the needless profanities, gay jokes, sexual innuendos, and morally corrupt situations that occurred. Be warned! My Ratings: [Extremely Offensive / 2]

Beth, age 15

This was the dumbest, not-funny, homosexual-laden, sick-humored movie we have ever seen. Two men kiss on the lips and 2 women do for about 15 seconds, as well as talk about their new magazine “American Bitch” which they say is for lesbian dog owners. It ends with a dog humping a mans leg. It has references to dogs watching humans having sex their style.

Pat Davis

This was one of the worst movies my husband and I have ever seen. The opening scene depicts a yuppy couple talking about their sexual behavior. And it just gets worse from there. Homosexuals, lesbians, adulterers and really strange humor. We went to see “Remember the Titans” right after this movie just that we could get the bad taste out of our mouth. A must not see! My Ratings: [1/1]

Tracy Gamboa, age 38

…a flamboyant homosexual couple are presented humorously, plus a female couple embrace and kiss passionately…

Preview Family Movie and TV Review

After seeing Best In Show I talked an elderly, depressed friend into seeing it with me. She laughed so hard she nearly fell out of her seat and has told all our senior friends to go to see it also. Christopher Guest is wonderfully versatile and has such a quirky sense of the absurd that he catches you off guard over and over with his own special brand of lunacy. His send-up documentary style is perfectly paced and visually delightful. This movie is NOT for children and can possibly offend some people who go to movies hoping to be edified, but for a fun-filled break, Best in Show is a treat. My Ratings: [Average / 4½]

Marty Akin, age 63

Best in Show is one of the rare breed of movies that captures the very soul of humor. The film relies on acting talent rather than fancy edits and action scenes to keep the audience riveted. There is certainly good reason that this movie has made every critic’s top ten of the year list. My Ratings: [Average / 4½]

Nathan Clark, age 22

Best In Show is a wonderful film, that rewards its audience with an inspirationally fresh perspective. The cast is uniformally wonderful, as the actors each improvise their characters and Director Guest uses his patented faux-documentary technique to perfection. In addition, the over-the-top characters are presented warts and all, and a gay couple is presented in a bubbly, outrageuos, friendly and accepting manner. As a Christian, and a movie buff, this is a relief. I get so tired of seeing gay people stereotyped in Hollywood films… I’m not saying this movie presents itself as a Christian film, but its satire and humor and honesty rank very high on the moral meter for me! My Ratings: [4/5]

Pete Crooks, age 31

Recommend this moving to someone you do not like. It is like a meta-joke on the audience, as if the real humor is that people are stupid or culturally conditioned enough to not walk out when being bored to the point of pain. You will leave feeling sullied, tired, and stilted. If the jerky and amateur camera angles do not make you sick, then surely the disgusting people being ridiculed will. Yes, there were funny moments, but the overall atmosphere of this elongated SCTV skit was to insult humanity. If Christ came to give “life, and more abundantly”, then this movie is anti-life, besmirching everything it touches and leaving you feeling sorry to be alive. I would gladly pay $100 to have not seen this movie. My Ratings: [1/1]

Dean VanDruff, age 40

Movie Critics

…2 uses of the ‘s’ word, 2 non-explicit slang terms for sex and a handful of other expletives…

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