Best in Show

Best in Show (2000) is Christopher Guest's cult comedy, available to watch online on iFILM. Shot as a mockumentary, it trails the deadly-earnest contestants of the prestigious Mayflower Dog Show and the owners who treat that ribbon as the whole point of their lives.

A parade of glorious oddballs files past the camera. Meek catalog salesman Gerry and his restless wife Cookie fuss over their Norwich Terrier; tackle-shop owner Harlan Pepper guides a famously placid bloodhound; a pair of yuppie lawyers fray their own nerves and their Weimaraner's; and a devoted couple all but worships their tiny Shih Tzu. Hovering over it all is commentator Buck Laughlin, played by Fred Willard, who blurts out such blissful nonsense that he steals every scene he's in. Most of the dialogue was born on set — Guest handed the cast an outline and let them improvise.

The ensemble is the core of Guest's repertory troupe: Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Jennifer Coolidge, Michael McKean, Jane Lynch. The humor is dry, observant and oddly kind — the film laughs not at the dogs but at the people who pour all their ambition and anxiety into them. A treat for fans of This Is Spinal Tap and anyone who loves sharp improv satire with no big punchlines. Stream Best in Show (2000) online on iFILM.