Best in Show

Best in Show

2000

Director: Christopher Guest

Writer: Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy

90 Minutes

Everyone loves dogs. There are apart of the American culture like apple pie, baseball games, and political corruption.

Years before Best in Show was made, writer/director Christopher Guest wrote down “catalog people” on a piece of paper. This eventually became the inspiration for the characters Meg Swan (Parker Posey) and Hamilton Swan (Michael Hitchcock) who are featured above.

Meg and Hamilton are dog owners who enjoy Starbucks, J Crew, and the Busy Bee. There are yuppies. They are lawyers. They have it all figured out, except for one thing: their dog has issues.

It once saw them having sex and was never the same.

They have tried therapy. They have tried love. They have tired toys. Nothing worked. When their dog enters the Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show, they are disqualified when their dog jumps at one of the judges.

Embarrassment cannot express their feelings, but this act made them realize their dog was the problem. Not them. Their dog was the cause of all their issues. Their dog negatively affected their lives. And their dog had to go.

In the scene above, the Swan’s are back in therapy, except with a new dog. A dog that likes them having sex. A dog that doesn’t have issues. And a dog that loves it’s mommy and daddy.

This is why people love this film: it shows how unbelievable ridiculous people can be about their dogs. It mirrors the majority of dog owners in American and throws humor at people’s obsession over their pets.

Everyone can relate, even if you've never owned a dog.

Christopher Guest has a genius way of making films. It lets the camera roll, gives small details towards the story, and lets improv magic run. He has made films about dogs, the film business, folk singers, and the greatest band in history: Spinal Tap. He is an accomplished actor, writer, director, producer, and musician.

But at the heart of his films, he realizes people can relate and laugh at themselves through characters like, “catalog people.” We all know them, shared holidays with them, and leave parties going, “are they a little crazy over their dog or is it me?”

I think we’ve all said that at one time or another and this film helps us laugh about it.