Saturday 14 January 2012

Best in Show

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Year:2000
Country of origin:USA
Director:Christopher Guest
Genre: Mockumentary
Starring:Jay Brazeau, Parker Posey, Michael Hitchcock, Catherine O'Hara
Rating:2/5
IMDB link:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0218839/
Tagline:Some pets deserve a little more respect than others.
Favourite line:"We met at Starbucks. Not at the same Starbucks but we saw each other at different Starbucks across the street from each other."

This movie interested me, in part because of the good reviews on IMDB (though that is not always reliable as people who love a movie inevitably are more likely to write a review than those who dislike the same) but also because I had heard it referenced as an American movie very much influenced by the British fly-on-the-wall style mockumenaries, such as The Office and People Like Us. After viewing, this is certainly true, though it lacks a certain edge. It's interesting, intelligently scripted and so on, but it is just not vicious enough.

The movie follows the lives of a group of people who show dogs at tournaments, and they are building up to the most prestigious event of the year. Essentially, they are a real bunch of misfits and oddballs, lavishing unhealthy amounts of devotion on to their mammals, whilst not realising just how dysfunctional their human to human relationships are.
It's a good premise and is effective at times, though all too often the scenes seem forced, and are clearly over long, and rarely does it make the viewer squirm with embarrasment for those involved, as a good mockumentary should.
This should have been great, as it is it is an interesting concept, though flawed.
A bit more bite (sorry!) and cynicism was required.

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