Best of Show

Spinal Tap lead guitarist Christopher Guest directs and co-stars in his second consecutive mockumentary—a sort of lightheaded companion piece to Gates of Heaven—Earl Morris’ stranger-than-fiction documentary on pet cemeteries. An oddball assortment of purebred canine owners (one man literally has two left feet) converge on Philadelphia for the championship judging of their prized, pampered pooches (including a Weimaraner that may be traumatized from seeing its humans have sex). This deadpan encapsulation of America’s dog show universe is amusing, but wears thin in spots and is not as laugh-out-loud funny or scathing as Guest’s Waiting for Guffman.