''Mascots'' is a 2016

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

from

Christopher Guest Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born February 5, 1948) is an American-British screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian. Guest is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed, and starred in ...

that premiered on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

on October 13, 2016, featuring

Jane Lynch Jane Marie Lynch (born July 14, 1960) is an American actress, comedian and author. She is known for starring as Sue Sylvester in the musical comedy series '' Glee'' (2009–2015), which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award. Lynch also gained recog ...

Parker Posey Parker Christian Posey (born November 8, 1968) is an American actress and musician. Posey is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award nomination, a Satellite Award nomination and two Independent Spirit Award nominations. Posey made her film debu ...

Fred Willard Frederic Charles Willard (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film '' This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984); the Christopher Guest mockumentaries '' W ...

, Ed Begley Jr., Christopher Moynihan,

Don Lake Donald Lake (born November 26, 1956) is a Canadian actor, writer, and television producer. He is frequently cast by director Christopher Guest, and is also a close friend and the collaborative partner of Bonnie Hunt. He had a role in '' The Bo ...

, Zach Woods,

Chris O'Dowd Christopher O'Dowd (born 9 October 1979) is an Irish actor and comedian. He received wide attention as Roy Trenneman, one of the lead characters in the Channel 4 comedy ''The IT Crowd'', which ran for four series between 2006 and 2010. He has ...

Michael Hitchcock Michael Hitchcock (born July 28, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and television producer. Early life Hitchcock received his Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Un ...

Bob Balaban Robert Elmer Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an American actor, author, comedian, director and producer. He was one of the producers nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for ''Gosford Park'' (2001), in which he also appeared. Balab ...

, and Jennifer Coolidge. Guest has a small role as Corky St. Clair, a character he first played in '' Waiting For Guffman''. Posey, Willard, Lake, Balaban, and Hitchcock also appeared in ''Guffman'', but play different roles in this film.

Plot

Several sports

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

s compete for the World Mascot Association championship's Gold Fluffy Award.

Cast

Production

announced on August 11, 2015 that it would be released on the streaming service in 2016. It was reported on August 26, 2015 that previous Guest collaborators

John Michael Higgins John Michael Higgins (born February 12, 1963) is an American actor and comedian whose film credits include Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, the role of David Letterman in HBO's '' The Late Shift'', and a starring role in the American vers ...

, Jennifer Coolidge,

, and

were in negotiations to join the film. It screened in the Special Presentations section at the

2016 Toronto International Film Festival The 41st annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 8 to 18 September 2016. The first announcement of films to be screened at the festival took place on 26 July. Almost 400 films were shown. Awards The festival's final awards were ...

Reception

On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 48% based on reviews from 48 critics, with an average rating of 5.70/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a score of 57 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Devan Coggan of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' wrote: "If you're a Guest devotee, you’ll be in the stands cheering; otherwise, ''Mascots'' feels like a bit of a retread." Stephen Dalton of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' wrote: "The gentle tone and disjointed sketch-show structure here will appeal to long-standing fans, but ''Mascots'' wins no prizes for innovation or progression. The jokes are uneven, the caricatures often overly broad and the plot almost nonexistent."

References

External links

* {{Christopher Guest 2016 films 2010s mockumentary films American mockumentary films Films with screenplays by Christopher Guest English-language Netflix original films Films directed by Christopher Guest 2016 comedy films American crossover films Comedy crossover films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films