Best in Show Character Review

This movie boasts quite an array of eccentric and idiosyncratic characters. You have the Swan couple who basically come off as very superficial characters as shown when they talked about how they stalked each other at Starbucks on opposite blocks. They are both very OCD in pretty much anything they do. As evidenced by their constant bickering on minute details and completely going insane over a lost dog toy. Then you have the Fleck couple, who have a slut-nerd relationship. This is a running gag in the movie where almost every guy asks “hey, do I know you from somewhere” with the husband always having an “oh for f***’s sake” moment. All in all these characters were played very well and highly contributed to the comedy aspect of the film. Then you have Harlan pepper, who embodies the redneck trope. He is basically treated not only as an eccentric hick, but also as an upcoming dark-horse character (with regards to the dog show). What I truly enjoy about this character is his great work ethic and never ending enthusiasm in any given situation. And of course, who could forget the gay couple of Stephan Vanderhoof and Scott Donlan. Funnily enough, these two characters purely embody the gay-man “eccentric and flamboyant” stereotype with their gestures, tone of speech, and even their dog. These characters mainly served as stress relief for the rest of the cast during the dog show. One notable scene was when Scott Donlan went on stage with his dog in a very zesty outfit causing a loud excited cheer from the audience, and a funny gag from the judge. The final couple is comprised of Sherri Ann Cabot and Christy Cummings.  Sherri is the quintessential gold digger character with Christy being the dog handler. There is basically a capable grunt + rich blonde relationship here, where Christy does all of the hard work in any given venture, while Sherri is just a figure head and….. is in charge of make-up. The thing to note here is that they’re relationship is much more explicitly shown as opposed to the other gay couple. After they won the qualifiers, Christy ran over to Sherri and started to make out which resulted in massive cheers from the audience and judges. Chances are, the writers and directors wouldn’t even consider portraying the guys in a similar fashion. This leads to the question of why society as a whole is generally more acceptant of lesbians than the male gay community ( at least as far as media is concerned). My personal favorite character in this movie was Buck Laughlin who acted as the commentator on the dog show. He was purely the comic relief character, and kept spitting out one joke after the other with pretty much no pause in between. Though many of his jokes were admittedly off color, such as his purposeful mangling of Donlan’s dog’s name. (Shi-Tsu) All in all, these characters made the movie a fun watch. So if you’re in the mood for eccentric characters and comedy, then this is the movie for you.