It seemed reasonable that after a decade away from feature filmmaking, Christopher Guest would return in a big way. His quirky and lovable comedies with equally quirky and lovable characters in "This Is Spinal Tap," "Waiting for Guffman," and "Best in Show" launched the mockumentary sub-genre, giving life to other successful films and TV shows. That seemed to provide proof enough that 2006's "For Your Consideration" was a misstep rather than a loss of mojo, but the equally flat "Mascots" suggests being quirky and lovable isn't so simple after all.
All of Guest's films have stayed to a certain formula, a parody of average people who have big dreams, debatable talent and an inflated sense of self-importance. This documentary style of mixing testimonial with drama created space for talented improvisational actors to create hysterical caricatures, but their passions and dreams made them easy for audiences to relate to, no matter how silly.
"Mascots" fits that mold. Mascot-ing is certainly an obscure "art form" that has the competition/performance elements that its predecessors had. A number of Guest's regulars appear in parts big and small (Parker Posey, Fred Willard, Bob Balaban, Jennifer Coolidge, John Michael Higgins and more) to offer dependability while fresh faces in contemporary comedy join in (Chris O'Dowd, Zach Woods, Sarah Baker, Tom Bennett and more) to add a little novelty. Yet "Mascots" just isn't interesting or funny enough.
One obvious culprit is the cast size. There are a lot of mascots to focus on: Mike and Mindy Murray (Woods and Baker) the bickering mascot couple; Owen Golly (Bennett), the third generation mascot; Cindi Babineaux (Posey) the serious dance artist; Phil Mayhew (Christopher Moynihan) the overly passionate mascot who's kinda sad; and Tommy Zucarello (O'Dowd) the mascot who couldn't care less. They all fight for screen time, and that doesn't include the various event organizers, judges and coaches that eat away at their share.
More of the problem could be that none of them have particularly compelling sub-plots or back stories that make their characters funny or interesting. They're all fairly archetypal. Each actor uncovers bits of genuinely funny comedy, but that humor comes in the smallest parcels in the smallest moments and doesn't impact the overall comedic impression of the larger scenes it's in, let alone the overall movie.
We also don't get a full sense of what's at stake. Winning first place at the mascot competition only matters if there's investment in all the competitors and Guest sets some of them up to win our affections and some of them up to fail, making it not all that conflicting or suspenseful when it comes time for the competition. None of that would matter, of course, if more of "Mascots" was laugh-out-loud funny. The quirkiness works for chuckles, but the big moments when we expect comedic payoff are fairly predictable and unremarkable.
At one point you realize "Mascots" really only came into existence for fans of Guest's mockumentaries, and that's when Guest reprises a role from one of his earlier films. It's the ultimate sign of pandering and perhaps an indicator that "Mascots" never had enough legs to stand on its own in the first place.
You have to believe with all your heart that the right script could exist to rejuvenate this formula, but it's clear Guest didn't have the ambition, at least not yet. Considering it's been 10 years and he's not getting any younger, you have to wonder if we've seen the best he has to offer. I hope not, but four good movies from the same core concept ain't bad.
~Steven C
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