Best in Show

Those waiting for the Guest man’s next movie can quit their bitching — he’s back with a mockumentary look into the world of dog shows. What’s more, much of the cast of his ’97 cult hit ”Waiting for Guffman” has returned, and they’re just as nervous as the film’s canine crazy contestants. ”It’s scary to know that people will be looking and comparing it to the previous film,” says Levy, who plays O’Hara’s anatomically incorrect husband. No kidding — Guest himself will be hard-pressed to top his notorious ”Guffman” performance as prissy, pop-eyed Off Off Broadway reject Corky St. Clair. He’ll try anyway as Harlan Pepper, a drawling Southerner who drives his beloved bloodhound Hubert to Philadelphia’s Mayflower Dog Show.

Guest’s Spinal Tap band mate Michael McKean, who appears as one half of a gay couple with high hopes for their shih tzu, claims the filmmaker’s famously offbeat humor would have been absent if not for this advice: ”I [said] ‘Cut out the stuff that’s not funny and keep the stuff that’s funny.’ And he said, ‘Well, I was gonna go the other way. But thanks for the suggestion.”’ GOOD SIGN If this movie is half as amusing as ”Waiting for Guffman,” audiences will be howling in the aisles. THEN AGAIN The mockumentary format may be wearing thin.