October 20, 2000 • j u s t o u t ,45
Gone to the dogs
Join the Club
Best in Show wins blue ribbon
for first-rate improvlsational comedy
by
O
r ia n a
ven though Best in Show has plenty of four-
footed friends, the dog stars are curiously
devoid of personality, as if the director
didn’t want them upstaging his actors. But
it’s not about the pets.
It’s about the neurotic relationships they
must endure with their owners. Now I’ll admit,
I found plenty to identify with in this dogumen-
tary; I’m one of those childless dykes who dotes
on her dog to the nth degree, like all the nut
cases in this movie.
If you’re not into canines, stay home; cat
people won’t get Best in Show. Dog people will
relate to it like the doggie dance of joy your
pcx)ch does when you return home after an
absence of, say, 20 minutes.
Plus, how can you tell a story about the dog
show world without queens and dykes? You
can’t, and they didn’t.
Saturday Night Live vet Michael McKean plays
Stefan (you just know he came into the world in
Columbus, Ohio, as Steve), who owns a twin set
of Shih Tzus with his partner, Scott (nailed by
John Michael Higgins, who is unrecognizable
here from his role as David Lettennan in The
Late Shift). Yes, there are plenty of gay stereo
types— they’re Kith hairdressers from Tribeca
who obsess on their wardrobe and redecorate
their hotel nxun—hut none of the humor feels
mean-spirited. (Scott worries that six kimonos
won’t he enough for their two-day stay in Philly.)
Jane Lynch, who looks like Anne Heche on
better drugs, does a fine job as Christy, the
dykey handler of the
reigning queen (dog) of
the show, a female stan
dard poodle named
*
Butch. She’s the straight
woman (so to speak) to
Sheri Ann, an Anna
Nicole Smith clone,
who owns the poodle.
Together they make
quite an odd couple
who ultimately start a
magazine called Ameri -
can Bitch for lesbians
and their dogs. Hell, I’d
hiy itl - • . * ,
Tfie rest of this great •
cast is just iYs funny.
Indie fave Parker Posey
stands out as a yuppie
G
Romantic comedy successfully tackles
gay male friendship
reen
gone had who drives her Weimaraner crazy
with her smothering attention. As she tells the
family shrink, she thinks the dog was trauma
tized watching her act out the Kama Sutra with
her equally wacko husband.
Fred Willard (Martin Mull’s love interest on
Roseanne) is a hoot as a kxib of a color commen
tator at the dog show. He seems like he wandered
in from a recreational vehicle trade show and just
sat down and started asking dumb questions.
Writer-director Christopher Guest devel
oped his mockumentary style with This Is
Spinal Tap and Waiting for Guffman, and fans of
those two quirky flicks should appreciate this
one, too. He also acts in the film, playing a
North Carolina simpleton who carts his blood
hound up to the prestigious dog show (loosely
modeled after the Westminster Kennel Club
show held every winter in New York). His gen
uine bond with his big lunk of a dog is the true
heart at the center of the film, the one rela
tionship that lets you know someone, at least,
is doing this because he actually loves his dog.
There aren’t a lot of deep thoughts here—
all of the dialogue was improvised from a 15-
page outline— but there are some priceless
moments of inspired comedy. j n
O riana G reen is, indeed, the dog-crazy
Entertainment Editor of Just Out. She will be
bringing her poodle-papillon to work on Halloween
in one of her many over-theHop costumes. Write to
either of them at oriana@justout.com.
ill;
spas»«»-
W i n t e r 's C o m i n g ! !
Vtj
he Broken Hearts Club
II
is a vivacious movie
that stands head and
shoulders akive most
gay romantic comedies.
This isn’t the kind of humor
akuit closeted antics causing
faux pas reactions nor akuit how
silly gay people look in drag. Put
simply, it’s a film akuit gay male
. *p> .¿*'j
friendship.
“Can you imagine if they
made a film akiut us? A kuit our
group of friends?” asks one of the
lead characters.
The group is a West Holly-
wood softball team composed
of housemates and co-workers
at a gay restaurant. Dennis
(Timothy Olyphant) is a pho
tographer who is tired of mean
ingless trysts and longs for the
perfect mate; Cole (ex-Super-
man Dean Cain) is the gor
geous housemate, a struggling
actor who casually loves and
leaves a string of men in his wake; Howie
(Matt McGrath) is a psych student who’s
hung up on his ex hut unable to express his
affection; Benji (Zach Braff) is a spiky-haired
kid who wants a gym-bunny boyfriend no
matter what the cost; Taylor (Billy Porter) is
the African American drama queen who
comes to live with Dennis after his bragged-
ahout long-term relationship ends; and
Patrick (Ben Weber) is a less-attractive gay
man who is trying not to let bitterness
invade his life.
The group is kxikended by patriarch/restau-
rateur/coach Jack (John Mahoney of Frasier),
who’s been gay since time began, and “newbie”
Kevin (Andrew Keegan), who is pulled into
the group by Cole and Dennis, even though he
hasn’t yet admitted he’s gay.
This is an ensemble film, and the plot
ambles from one character to another, follow
ing the changes and growth each makes in his
life. Each man is on a path of continued dis
covery akuit himself, the humor—anil some *
sadness—Comes from the situations in which
they find themselves.
Openly gay writer/director Greg Berlanti
makes his feature film dehut here (he’s been
M
an g els
—
'& • X 3 »
\
Look, up in the •
sky! It’s a bird! It’s
a flame! (Actually,
it’s Dean Cain.)
4
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toiling on the small screen’s Dawson's
Creek), and he shows an incredibly deft
hand for showcasing humanity. More impor
tantly, he makes a film that almost every gay
man should he able to identify with. Issues
of love, lust, friendship, betrayal, kxly con
sciousness, self-worth and more are dealt
with in the script, woven in between biting
and funny gay banter that sounds like any
number o f witty gay conversations I’ve had
or heard.
Across the kiard, the acting is top-rate.
Keegan is wonderfully conflicted as the newbie,
and Weber’s Patrick is allowed to be kith
unlikahle and the character most men will
identify with at the same time.
In the same way some African American-
themed films are too “urban" for white folks, I
have a feeling The Broken Hearts Club might he
just too gay for hets, hut that’s a shame,
because it is a funny, warm film. j n
A ndy M angels is a longtime Portland enterv
taimnent writer with three books and hundreds of
ccrmic btxtks and magazine articles to his credit.
You can write him at AMangelsSW@aol.com.
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