Best in Show, 2000

I have to say that outright because he's made some of the greatest comedies around. This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman and his most recent film, Best in Show.

Writer, actor, director... the man is all over the place, and with good reason. He knows how to deal with actors, he knows how to get the shots he wants, he knows how to move the story along.

Guest started out as an actor. His first mainstream role was in Death Wish, if you can believe that. Creepy. From there, he got spot roles, in television and in film. In 1981, he worked on Heartbeeps, an underground sci-fi flick that has a quasi-following.

It wasn't until 1984-85 when he was an actor on Saturday Night Live. This brought out the unseen comic style of the man, and was, directly after, hired for This is Spinal Tap, playing Nigel Tufnel, the beloved guitarist. "But this one goes up to eleven."

Spinal Tap was one of the first Mocumentaries ever made, and was written by the cast of actors including Guest, Michael McKean (long time corroborator), Harry Shearer (Simpsons voice man) and director Rob Reiner.

It began his real career, which blossomed into comedy sketches with other famed comedians, such as Martin Short and Billy Crystal. He also worked in film, including a quick stint in the 1986 Little Shop of Horrors, and a much larger role in the Reiner film The Princess Bride, as Count Rugen, the six fingered man.

From there, Guest didn't do too much else. He did a reunion gig with the Spinal Tap guys in 1992, he did another Martin Short sketch, and he had a bit part in the other Reiner flick, A Few Good Men.

And then, nothing, for four years.

In 1996, Guest did something that people were waiting for, for 12 years. He made another film.

Waiting for Guffman was a fantastic movie that brought out the Spinal Tap crowds, and other mocumentary lovers, and was a pretty big success. It sported a fantastic cast, including Larry Miller, Don Lake, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey and co-writer Eugene Levy.

It was a long awaited reprisal of the comedy acting of Guest, with incredible performances by the rest of the group. The film was so popular, as was the subject matter, that it spawned another film, with pretty much the same cast. Best in Show.

Mocumentaries are exciting films to watch, because the dialog is both written and ad-libbed. Essentially, the characters are written for the actors to play out and live, flesh out themselves. The entire cast does an incredible job, including Guest, who plays a southern drawl with a hound dog, perfectly.

Again, written by Guest and Levy, the Guffman group comes back for more. Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock are hysterical as the J. Crew, Starbucks crossed eyed lovers with braces.

Posey has been around for some time, since 1991. Primarily, in the beginning of her career, she worked in television. A few mainstream films dot her career too, like Coneheads, Mixed Nuts, Scream 3, Josie and the Pussycats, and also some independent films like Dazed and Confused, Flirt, Kicking and Screaming, Basquiat, The Daytrippers, The House of Yes... but her best work, by far, is with Guest.

Eugene Levy is phenomenal. I can't say enough about his two performances in Guest's films. He's a great straight man, always has been since his SCTV days, and I think his performances in these films blows away anything he's done recently, specifically American Pie.

Catherine O'Hara recently won an American Comedy Award for her role in Best in Show. She deserved it, she was wonderful. Another SCTV native, her film roles have been well placed. She's been in some very popular movies; Beetlejuice (her best movie role), Home Alone, A Simple Twist of Fate, Home Fries... and has a number of roles coming up in 2001. I think she was fantastic in this film (and Guffman), and should continue the trend with other similar films.

Fred Willard was pretty hysterical as the announcer of the dog show. I won't ruin his work in the film, but his work in both Guest films outshines anything else I've seen him in.

Dave Mckean joined Guest again, and was as funny as he was 17 years earlier with Guest, even though their on screen appearances together were nil. There isn't much you can say about Lenny. He's a superb actor who's been in some mediocre movies, but the roles he really hits, and hits hard with, are memorable, to say the least. This one is definitely one of those wonderful roles.

Don Lake, Jane Lynch, Jennifer Coolidge, Jim Piddock, Ed Begley Jr., John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock... they all round out the cast perfectly. They played their parts to a T.

The DVD has 18 deleted scenes, some of which are hysterical. I have yet to watch the commentary, but I'm certain that with Guest and Levy talking, there should be some wonderful insights about the shoot and the actors.

This is definitely worth getting. I pre-ordered mine three months before it was released, I was one of the lucky ones who saw the film in the theaters.

Here's an interview with Guest that came out after Guffman.

For those of you who aren't too schooled on mocumentaries, you must also check out ...And God Spoke, not a Guest film, but my all time personal favorite mocumentary.

J.P.

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