Guest Movie Review: Best In Show

Caveat: As some of you know, other than THE SIXTH SENSE (which should have received a much higher score than a certain favorite movie reviewer gave) the last movie I saw was JAWS. Being a child of MTV, I have a very short attention span and in fact am not a big lover of the movies. Imagine my anxiety to find I was one of the winners of the movie madness contest! Now I not only had to SEE a movie, BUT REVIEW IT! OY! Well, here goes:

Story: A behind the scenes look at some of the contestants preparing to attend and compete in the MAYFLOWER DOG SHOW. Written by Christopher Guest (remember This is Spinal Tap and Waiting for Guffman)? and Eugene Levy, this mock documentary of mostly improvised dialog is hilarious. We follow super yuppies Meg (Parker Posey) and Hamilton Swan (Michael Hitchcock), Floridians Gerry and Cookie Fleck (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara), rich and very old Leslie Ward Cabot (Patrick Cranshaw) and his much younger wife Sherri Ann (Jennifer Coolidge) {Think Anna Nicole Smith and her 89 year old dead husband}. Fly fishing shop owner Harlan Pepper (Christopher Guest) and gay couple Scott (John Michael Higgins) and his partner Stefan (Michael McKean). Have I left anyone out? YES! Fred Williard as the commentator at the dog show was over the top hilarious and really made the movie for me. Don't sit. Don't stay. And please don't play dead! Go and see this very funny movie. (I'll give you a treat.)

Acting: Is this a trick category?

Pets: Many beautiful doggies

Visual Art: One lovely quilt

Soundtrack: barking? Actually, I didn't notice

Theater Audience: As varied as the dogs in a dog show. Since I was coming down with a cold, JudyLobo and I sat one seat apart.

Snack and Beverage: The counter girl convinced us that the LARGE popcorn and beverage was the best value since it was only 25 cents more than the medium size. We were handed a trash can sized popcorn and a swimming pool sized soda. I got a stomach ache later that evening.

Sappy Factor: Zero

Quirky Meter: High

Tissue Usage: Stop it! (Unless you had an allergic reaction to the dog hair.)

Oscar Worthy: Don't ask me. I've seen 2 movies in the past 3 years.

Nit Picking Quotient: VERY HIGH! Oh wait, I thought this was tick picking quotient. Never mind.

Length: A perfect 90 minutes

Coco's tail wags: 7.5