Heist action comedy is one of my favorite sub-genres, and it is pretty much in Doug Liman’s wheelhouse. He’s directed The Bourne Identity, Mr & Mrs. Smith, and one of my fave action sci-fi The Edge of Tomorrow, so naturally I was intrigued by this one. There’s a bit of a buddy-comedy theme here with the pairing of Matt Damon as Rory and Casey Affleck as Cobby, which marks their 9th movie together. The Instigators centers on two crooks who find themselves on the run after a robbery goes wrong, and unexpectedly, one of their therapists gets caught up in the chaos.
Former marine Rory confides to his therapist Dr. Donna Rivera (Hong Chau) that he needs money ($32,480 to be exact) for child support, mortgage, alimony, etc., and all he wants at this point in his life is to reconnect with his son. Damon is pretty well-versed in playing an ‘everyman’ type, not as good as Tom Hanks, but he’s certainly believable as a regular working-class guy with financial and family struggles.
Meanwhile, we find ex-con Cobby underwater (literally and figuratively), and the next thing we know, he teams up with lowlife criminal Salvo (Jack Harlow) and Rory for a heist during a fundraiser event during mayoral election night. A movie involving corrupt politicians released three months before the US election is pretty timely, though the plot is derivative and predictable. Now, the bumbling operation for such a high-stake plan stretches credulity, plus, it doesn’t make sense that a former military guy like Rory acts like a simpleton who writes everything down in a notepad. It’s no surprise that the team botched the heist, and the rest of the movie follows the two leads on the run, with Dr. Rivera in tow.
Casey co-wrote the script with Chuck MacLean, and his brother Ben Affleck is one of the producers. Given that Damon, the Afflecks, as well as MacLean hail from Boston, the movie’s setting feels like a tribute to their favorite places growing up: Boston Wharf, Fenway Park, not to mention the extended car chase through downtown. It’s a preposterous car chase with Rivera’s incessant counseling of both Rory and Cobby throughout.
It is amusing to see Damon behind the wheel as if reprising Jason Bourne’s superb driving skills, but the chase itself lacks the visceral thrills of the Bourne movies and the jokes don’t always land. The writers might be going for a mismatched buddy duo like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or The Nice Guys but lack the edginess and comedic energy. The absurd banter between Rory and Dr. Rivera actually made me laugh more than Rory and Cobby’s constant bickering. Chau isn’t a natural comedic actress but she’s talented and versatile enough to make her dead-pan delivery works.
The supporting cast is filled with terrific character actors: Michael Stuhlbarg, Alfred Molina, Toby Jones, and Ron Perlman, though most of them are criminally underutilized. It’s so odd to see Molina in such a pointless role, while Stuhlbarg seems to have been given direction to overact in every scene. Ving Rhames shows up as a member of Special Ops to retrieve an important item belonging to the mayor that’ll make or break his entire career. Even though the actors do their best not to just phone in their performances, they clearly deserve much better material.
Overall the movie lacks the edge-of-your-seat thrills and pulsating intrigue needed to leave a lasting impression. There’s nothing memorable about the cinematography by Henry Braham nor the music by Christophe Beck. While it’s not terrible, it falls into the mediocre and forgettable category. It’s a letdown given the talented team behind it.
It’s currently playing in select theaters and streaming on Apple TV+ on August 9, 2024
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Jack Harlow… oh fuck that.
Ahah, wow such a strong reaction 😀 I didn’t even know who he is and he’s barely in the movie.
He’s some lame-ass rapper whose face I had to endure for nearly a month or 2 whenever I drive near the Braves Stadium where I live nearby and his face was plastered at my local KFC for that time. Thank God I haven’t eaten KFC for more than a decade. Their food sucks.
Ah ok, well good thing I don’t know him then. He has a very irritating persona here, probably not much acting required, ahahaha
No thanks.
Not a Matt Damon fan.
I love a great heist movie, but this one sounds like a blight on the genre.
I must thank you for this warning… erm, review!
Okay, for costume shows there are 25 I need to watch. I’ve got 9 left to watch.
4 are in the Sci -fi category.
Have a great rest of the week, Ruth!
Yeah, there are so many better heist movies! This might not be worth your time then if you don’t like Damon. I actually don’t mind him, though he’s not exactly my go-to actor.
Oh wow, 25 more to go!! Well done, Resa and enjoy the rest of your week, too. Happy Emmy watching, my friend!
😅
Then I have more to watch in the “Best Shows” categories.
At least the costumes part will be done. Also, there are sone repeats in the “Best Shows”… like Shogun!
I saw a trailer of this one a while back but didn’t know it’s already out! I guess the rumors are true that Apple is cutting back on spending their money on movies and TV shows. They hardly ever promote any of their stuff this year.
I thought the trailer looked fun but sounds like the actual movie was a dud. It appears Doug Liman maybe stuck doing these movies for streaming services for the rest of his career. I didn’t care for the Road House remake but apparently it was a big hit for Amazon and they already green lit a sequel.
Yeah, I didn’t even realize it’s playing in theaters this week. But then again, I rarely see trailers unless it shows up on my feed.
Liman used to do such great action movies! I hope his career would pick up again, I do think he’s talented but depend on the material.
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Great reviews as always. It’s a shame that this movie didn’t turn out to be so great because on paper it does seem to hold a lot of promise. I am a fan of both Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, who are fantastic actors. Damon is a fantastic actor that has been giving unforgettable performances in movies for many years. Casey Affleck is also an exceptional actor that has impressed with me with his performances in such movies as “Manchester by the Sea”. The last time the two actors collaborated in a film was “Good Will Hunting” in 1997. A captivating coming-of-age classic, that movie found both actors giving great performances. I absolutely love that film which is one of my favourite films of all-time. So, it’s a shame that their latest collaboration on “The Instigators” didn’t work out so well. I will definitely not watch this movie after reading your review.
Here’s why I loved “Good Will Hunting”:
Hey Hassan! I was on vacation for most of last week, so pardon the delayed response. Yeah it’s a bummer The Instigators wasn’t as great as I had hoped but it was still worth a watch on streaming.
Speaking of Good Will Hunting, I just saw that for the first time after watching this movie. I agree with your 5/5 rating, it’s indeed a timeless classic and Damon is excellent in that. I have to say though, that Robin Williams deserved his Oscar for his performance, he elevated that film IMHO and Stellan Skarsgard was great as well.
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