The Coolidge Corner Theatre

$9.75/ $7.75 Seniors and Students/ Free For Coolidge Members

In keeping with the evening's canine theme, our friends at Polka Dog Bakery, a treat boutique for pooches, will be raffling off free dog goodies at the screening. Patrons will also receive free mini doggie bags, courtesy of Polka Dog, while supplies last.

Master mockumentarian Christopher Guest (This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind) wrote and directed this inspired gem, a hilarious send-up of competitive canine culture that follows a group of contestants vying for top honors at the prestigious Mayflower Dog Show.

This mostly improvised comedy features a stellar ensemble cast, including Guest as a fly-fishing shop owner who hopes that his Bloodhound, Hubert, will be the first of his breed to win the top prize, Parker Posey and Michael Hitchock as a perfectionist pair of yuppies whose beloved Weimarnar, Beatrice, is as neurotic as they are, Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy as a mismatched couple who happily prepare their prized Norwich Terrier, Winky, for the most important show of his competitive career, John Michael Higgins and Michael McKean as the flamboyant owners of a pampered Shih Tzu named Miss Agnes, and Jennifer Coolidge as a vacuous trophy wife whose Standard Poodle, Rhapsody in White, is presented by ace handler Christy Cummings (Jane Lynch). Fred Willard is brilliant as motor-mouthed television commentator who seems to know nothing about dogs (or anything else for that matter)

Before the film, Dr. Nicholas H. Dodman, BVMS, MRCVS, one of the world’s most noted veterinary behaviorists, explores the sometimes curious bond between people and their dogs. Some show owners seem to regard their dogs as an extension of their personality and live vicariously through their pet's success (or defeat) in the ring. What is the nature and cause of the intensity of this relationship? Do the dogs really think and react, feel and anticipate, as their owners believe? Are they really proud when they win and distraught when they lose -- or is this interpretation a product of their owners’ overactive imaginations? What is the evidence for dogs' intelligence, and do we over- or underestimate our canine charges?

Nicholas Dodman is professor, section head, and program director of the Animal Behavior Department of Clinical Sciences at Tufts’ Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. He founded the Animal Behavior Clinic – one of the first of its kind – at Tufts in 1986. Since the mid-‘90s, Dr. Dodman has written four acclaimed, bestselling books: The Dog Who Loved Too Much, The Cat Who Cried for Help, Dogs Behaving Badly, and The Well-Adjusted Dog. He is a columnist for the American Kennel Club’s quarterly publication, AKC Family Dog, and has authored two textbooks and more than 100 scientific articles.

dir. Christopher Guest, w/ Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, 1h30m