That was an excellent one.

It is a performances centric movie

Disturbing yet enthralling

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The closet thing we have to the great Mike Leigh is probably Christopher Guest who serves up another of his improvfests, Mascots. Following on the heels of his other competition flicks Best in Show & For Your Consideration, we follow a bunch of lovable eccentrics trying to make their mark in their world w/hilarious, rib tickling results. We also have a return of Corky St. Clair from Waiting for Guffman which is worth the price of admission in itself.

Mascots is a mockumentary in the vein of This is Spinal Tap, but this time it's sporting mascots; those who dress up in costumes to keep the crowd entertained in lulls on the field, be it football, hockey, cricket, whatever. The film follows a number of different mascot acts, from a husband and wife double act having marriage troubles to a feminist dancer who takes it a little too seriously, to a third generation British mascot to a vulgar "bad boy" mascot for Canadian hockey, and a number of others. We follow them as they all come together for a Mascotting competition, where they show off their acts and compete for the Gold Fluffy.Mascots is a little light on laughs, even though it does try it's best to be a laugh-a- minute kind of comedy. Empirically I don't think I really laughed out loud at all, maybe once. Usually it was just a little chuckle. So on a ROFL to Heh rating, it's definitely on the lower end. Most of its humour is more satirical in nature, poking fun at the event and those who take part, but honestly it's most enjoyable moments are when it ditches the satire and embraces full entertainment. By the third act I didn't care about the characters underneath the costumes and just wanted more of the performances themselves. The combination of dance and slapstick fused together to create the film's most interesting moments, like the British guy's hedgehog trying to set up a cup of tea and getting distracted by footballs, or a plumber having a dance-off with a s**t that bursts out of a toilet. Even the super- serious art/dance performance of the feminist armadillo was far more entertaining than much of the movie, despite it depicting the audience as thoroughly bored.I definitely found a nationalistic divide in the characters too. The British guy with his wife and father were probably my favourite characters, garnering the biggest laughs. Likewise the Canadian hockey mascot was also hugely entertaining. Maybe I found them more entertaining because I'm British, or maybe it's because Christopher Guest has a better grasp on British humour than American, or maybe it's because the American actors and actresses couldn't quite hit the same satirical notes that the British and Irish actors could? I honestly don't know, but the divide in quality was certainly noticeable. Other highlights include the conversation between an old-timer and a dwarf, and a conversation about Furries.There are worse ways to while away the time than by watching Mascots. Even though this is the longest I've gone between watching and reviewing, Mascots was easily forgettable after a couple of hours, but I can't really say it was bad. If you want a laugh-out-loud comedy, look somewhere else, if you want a mockumentary Mascots hits the spot as well as any other, but won't be remembered or marked as one of the greats. At best I find myself completely apathetic to it. I give it an okay 5/10.

I have laughed outloud at Christopher Guest since his brief stint on Saturday Night Live, through "This Is Spinal Tap", "Waiting for Guffman", "Best in Show", and "A Mighty Wind", I anticipated the release of this movie for months believing that the premise was a winner. Sadly, it was not to be. I only laughed a couple of times feeling like many of the gags were too mechanical and manipulative. Some of the characters had a few good lines but overall I was looking at the clock on the DVD player through much of the movie. Fred Willard, who generally steals every scene he is in really fell flat with his lack-luster performance. He appeared tired, bored, and out of touch--so at least he and I had those three things in common.Sadly I cannot recommend this one. Painful to write, but avoid this one at all costs.

Like many, I'm sure, I was excitedly awaiting the next Christopher Guest movie - and coming in to this one, all indications (cast, premise, trailer, Netflix involvement) were encouraging. I was genuinely excited to sit down and watch it.Sadly, Mascots does not deliver against the high standard Guest fans have come to expect. It's essentially Best In Show without the charm, spontaneity or laughs.Although you have to believe all involved wanted to make something special, the inescapable lingering impression is of a very distinct 'Guest' formula (specifically, the variation of it applied in Best In Show) being reapplied with a (slightly) different cast and setting, but *without* inspiration or enthusiasm. The character introductions, the first-night cocktail party, the build-up to the event, the event itself, and the where-are-they now recap: *all* these elements were there, which is not necessarily a problem, but without some added magic (e.g., some innovative spark, something that creatively/emotionally unites the various story threads, or even just some consistent unexpected laughs) you're left with a pretty joyless, formulaic exercise in painting by numbers.I kept waiting and wanting to be emotionally invested in the movie, but never was. Someone won the gold Fluffy - but so what - someone had to. The 'network people' thread, set up as something that would have a huge bearing on the Fluffies' future, went nowhere. NOWHERE! They turned out to be from Burbank, not NYC (this demonstrates the standard of the jokes), and were then shunted aside to deal with the degenerate in the rabbit suit. We never saw them again. Oh well.It's as though, in the absence of any really interesting new ideas, Guest has just returned to an old well and repeated himself, and expected a paying audience to accept it. It felt like a contractual obligation. It's an unfortunate thing.I love so many of his earlier movies so much that I can't/won't give up hope. I just hope his next one delivers a bit more, well, entertainment.