Worst in Show

This documentary focuses on the annual "World's Ugliest Dog" contest held in Petaluma, California. Like a lot of offbeat competitions, it started out as a quirky bit of fun for owners of strange-looking, so-ugly-they're-cute canines. But the subject matter, while funny on the surface, ultimately turns disturbing.

For one thing, as in many contests, there are always a few competitors who take the whole thing way too seriously. In this case, one dog owner in particular comes across as an obnoxious self-promoter who attempts to monopolize all the attention at every contest. His aggressive campaigning tactics start off as funny, then become tiresome. He eventually comes off as one of those pushy stage parents in children's beauty pageants.

More disturbing, though, is the exploitation of some of these dogs. Granted, some breeds of dogs, such as Chinese Cresteds, are simply more bizarre-looking than the average pooch. But many of the entrants have disabilities that contribute to their "ugliness"--missing eyes, blindness, visible tumors and warts, goiters, missing teeth, spinal and limb deformities, etc. It raises the question of whether some of these dogs are the victims of medical neglect by greedy owners who are more interested in allowing their dogs to remain "ugly" rather than seek medical attention for their illnesses and deformities.

What starts out as a lighthearted look at strange, funny-looking creatures turns sour. Maybe a closer look at some of these overzealous dog owners is warranted.

Pretty amusing account of The Ugly Dog show competition that has for some reason become Top Dog. Deals with some of the issues raised by the event without getting too heavy. I might have liked this better as an hour cable special, it feels like there is a bit much of everything. Most of all, of course, the one owner who uses these events for bizarre self promotion. There is one in every crowd, as they say. But even the sympathetic owner of the dog who wins the contest near the end we might have enjoyed more without hearing her whole life story. An enjoyable little Doc though, to be sure. Any dog lover will enjoy it. The DVD contains some out takes for those who can't get enough.

Welcome to the dog-eat-dog world (or should I say "dog-owner-eat-dog-owner" world) of jealous, petty, publicity-grabbing pet-owners who smugly enter their ghastly-looking pooches into the "World's Ugliest Dog" contest.

For starters - This "Ugliest Dog In The World" documentary lost itself some serious points when it came to the introduction of some of the most irritating and downright asinine dog-owners imaginable.

This documentary also lost itself further significant points due to the fact (which I found quite disturbing) that a good number of the dogs presented in this contest weren't dogs who were just plain "dog-ugly" because of a specialized breeding (like the Chinese Crested) - No - These were unfortunate dogs who were deemed "ugly" due to having a very grotesque physical deformity. I kid you not.

Like - "Hello!?" - If you ask me - That, from my perspective, rendered a good number of the dog-owners (who were shamelessly highlighted in this decidedly disappointing documentary) as being a truly contemptible bunch. And, so, that, of course, left me with no choice but to reduce my ranking of "Worst in Show" to just a measly 3-star rating. Oh. Yes. Indeed.

And, as that old, familiar saying goes - "Ugly (like beauty) is in the eyes of the beholder."

Considering what this documentary's subject was all about (a contest in search of the world's ugliest dog) - I certainly thought that this particular presentation could have been a whole lot better than it (unfortunately) turned out to be. I'm not kidding.

Yes. There certainly were some very entertaining moments in "Worst In Show", but, as things moved along, I quickly found that I just couldn't warm up to some of the irksome personalities of a number of the dog-owners who were in my face here for a good part of the time.

Generally speaking - "Worst In Show" was a fairly mediocre production, on all counts.

If this presentation had been handled more professionally (and not focused on the bickering of certain dog-owners), then, yes, I think "Worst In Show" would have been a helluva lot more enjoyable to watch, in the long run.

Anyway - See for yourself. You just might think differently than I do.