My daughter Pauline and her husband spend a lot of time in activities with their children.
One of those activities is weekly movies. They have six children, so in many weeks they have one film for the older children and one for the younger kids.
This week they watched a comedy that is one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen.
Christopher Guest may not have invented the mockumentary genre, but beginning in 1984 when he wrote and acted in “This is Spinal Tap,” he has definitely made it his own.
From a film about community theatre (“Waiting for Guffman”) to one about folk music (“A Mighty Wind”) to one about awards season (“For Your Consideration”), Guest has made hilarious movies.
None better than “Best in Show,” which is a satiric look at a show like the Westminster Dog Show.
I was surprised that Pauline said she wasn’t sure her kids would like what she called a fairly dry movie. As it turned out, they did, but my problem is that to me the movie was anything but dry.
In fact, I don’t know if “Best in Show” is the funniest movie I ever saw, but it would definitely be way up near the top of the list. Nearly every character is funny, but Fred Willard’s color commentator might be the single funniest character I’ve ever seen.
From Willard’s Buck Laughlin, “Look at Scott! He is prancing along with the dog! Man, I tell you something, if you live in my neighborhood and you’re dressed like that, you’d better be a hotel doorman.”
Willard is only one of the wonderful people in the movie. “Best in Show” was a breakthrough role for the hilarious Jane Lynch, and at least six or eight other truly funny people make up the cast.
Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara are the real comedy vets, and Michael McKean and Guest himself are hilarious.
It’s a movie I’ve watched a dozen times, and may watch it another dozen times before I die.
Nothing is better than a really great comedy.