| 100 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
No one does this genre better than actor-writer-director Christopher Guest.
|
| 90 |
Rolling Stone
Waggish fun like this is too good to miss.
|
| 90 |
Variety
A barkingly funny new "mockumentary" that does for those canine pageants what the helmer's 1996 "Waiting for Guffman" did for smalltown theatrics.
|
| 90 |
The New York Times
This comic jigsaw puzzle is crammed with deliriously funny little bits.
|
| 90 |
Slate
Best in Show has an uproarious wild card in Fred Willard, who plays a hack commentator convinced that he's the most amusing fellow on television
|
| 90 |
Newsweek
It's as smart, quiveringly alert and fleet of foot as a purebred pointer on the scent of fresh game.
|
| 90 |
TNT RoughCut
I found myself roaring at the grotesque way some of the characters talk to their pets, pausing only briefly when I realized that I do precisely the same thing.
|
| 88 |
Charlotte Observer
If this new film doesn't quite go to 11, it's a healthy 8½.
|
| 88 |
New York Post
I was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down my cheeks.
|
| 88 |
Chicago Sun-Times
Wickedly funny.
|
| 88 |
USA Today
This giggle does for dog shows what Rob Reiner's "This Is Spinal Tap" (in which Guest plays Nigel Tufnel) did for heavy metal.
|
| 83 |
Portland Oregonian
You will be surprised by the film's poignancy when the winner is announced. You may even get choked up. You will care that much.
|
| 80 |
Los Angeles Times
Has both bark and bite. Its low-key but sharp and amusing sense of humor is a nice fit with the frenetic world of competitive dog shows.
|
| 80 |
Chicago Reader
In general, the dogs-as-mirrors theme--the crazy things people do with and in relation to their pets--is what keeps this going, and the laughs are sporadic but genuine.
|
| 80 |
TV Guide
Blue-ribbon acting from both the four- and two-legged performers.
|
| 80 |
Salon.com
Guest revels in the eccentricities of dog lovers everywhere, but there's kindness at his core. He's a mensch among mutts.
|
| 80 |
Dallas Observer
While the movie is frequently sharp and funny and weirdly relatable, the material feels too much like reality.
|
| 78 |
Austin Chronicle
Sublimely ridiculous film.
|
| 78 |
Mr. Showbiz
It's got enough hilarious moments that, all in all, the film's bite is as toothsome as its bark.
|
| 75 |
Baltimore Sun
Reaches the highest comic heights when the show itself starts.
|
| 75 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Carla Meyer
In terms of dramatic tension, Best in Show is more compelling than a lot of formulaic sports movies.
|
| 75 |
San Francisco Examiner
Gets blue-ribbon results from its thoroughbred cast of improvisational comics.
|
| 75 |
Philadelphia Inquirer
A droll piece of deadpan played with mostly unerring pitch by a talented cast.
|
| 75 |
New York Daily News
When it's funny, Best is hilarious.
|
| 70 |
LA Weekly
Guest begins -- but doesn't end -- with caricatures, then peels away at our preconceptions until we see the heart and soul beneath.
|
| 70 |
Washington Post
Just isn't as fresh, focused or uniformly funny as "Waiting for Guffman."
|
| 70 |
Washington Post
More amiable than hysterical.
|
| 70 |
Film.com
Tight and quick-moving, the film scores its points and gets on with it.
|
| 67 |
Entertainment Weekly
You giggle every so often, but you never give yourself over to the characters.
|
| 63 |
Boston Globe
He's (Willard) a one-man storm of escalating inanity, and he's hilarious.
|
| 63 |
Miami Herald
Doggone funny.
|
| 63 |
Chicago Tribune
For sheer laughs, Willard and Piddock take the trophy.
|
| 60 |
Village Voice
Best in Show succeeds only insofar as you're willing to laugh at a bunch of sad freaks.
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