Mascots (2016)

Every year, professional mascots vie for their spot in the Fluffy Awards.  The awards show is run by Langston Aubrey (Hitchcock) and the top 20 contestants compete for the top prize: the Gold Fluffy.  Two TV executives, Upton French (Higgins) and Jessica Mundt (Blasucci), are attending the festivities and will potentially broadcast the competition in the future.  The competition is judged by sponsor Buddy Campbell (Lake), celebratory mascot A.J. Blumquist (Begley) who wore an anatomically correct costume, and celebratory mascot turned author Gabby Monkhouse (Lynch).

Owen Golly Jr. (Bennett) is a third generation mascot.  He inherited the character of Sid from his father, Owen Golly Sr. (Jim Piddock), and his grandfather created the character.  Owen is trying to get out of the shadow of his family.  Phil Mayhew (Moynihan) is the plumber mascot for the local football team.  He hopes to win over his old high school crush and win the competition.  Mike (Woods) and Mindy Murray (Baker) are a married couple and the joint mascots for a minor league baseball team.  They don't agree on anything, including their act.  Cindi Babineaux (Posey) is the mascot at a women's college.  She loves to dance and brought along her sister and best friend Laci Babineaux (Yeagley).  Tommy "Zook" Zucarello (O'Dowd) is the bad boy of mascoting.  He is the Fist, a hockey mascot that is suspended from his team for his antics.  As the competition begins, who  will rise to the occasion and who will fold under the pressure?


Director Christopher Guest turns his attention to the world of professional mascots.  The result is a film that fits the mold of a Christopher Guest film... but isn't as good as his previous films.

The film is formatted like a documentary, with the characters speaking directly to the camera.  The characters are quirky, but there aren't many laughs.  The cast is great, and many have appeared in other Guest films.  But something is missing.

The most interesting characters are underutilized and the annoying characters have more screen time.  The competition is entertaining, but even falls flat.  Check out Best in Show or Waiting for Guffman instead.  Guest appears briefly in this film as Corky St. Clair, the character he played in Waiting for Guffman and on TV's SNL.

Mascots (2016) 89 minutes
Director: Christopher Guest
Starring: Sarah Baker as Mindy Murray
Ed Begley Jr. as A.J. Blumquist
Tom Bennett as Owen Golly Jr.
Maria Blasucci as Jessica Mundt
John Michael Higgins as Upton French
Michael Hitchcock as Langston Aubrey
Don Lake as Buddy Campbell
Jane Lynch as Gabby Monkhouse
Christopher Moynihan as Phil Mayhew
Chris O'Dowd as Tommy "Zook" Zucarello
Parker Posey as Cindi Babineaux
Zach Woods as Mike Murray
Susan Yeagley as Laci Babineaux