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The Instigators
The story is a little confusing, but the 2024 action comedy The Instigators is worth a look thanks to a terrific cast and the director of The Bourne Identity in the director's chair.
The movie is set in Boston where we meet Rory (Oscar winner Matt Damon) and Cobby (Oscar winner Casey Affleck, a couple of losers who have agreed to participate in a heist at a political benefit for the mayor and his candidate where it costs $500 a seat. Unfortunately, the heist goes terrible wrong,, forcing Rory and Cobby to go on the run, along with Rory's therapist, Dr. Rivera.
Affleck co-wrote this muddy screenplay with Chuck MacLean that seems to borrow elements from several other films like the Oceans franchise, Dog Day Afternoon, Payback, and The Sugarland Express where we not only find ordinary Joes caught up in extraordinary circumstances, but they are very well protected by the screenplay that throws in everything but the kitchen sink to make our heroes come out that way.
The film starts off promisingly as we understand Rory and Cobby's need to be involved in this caper. As a matter of fact, Rory declares an exact amount he needs from this heist. When the guy hiring our boys (Michael Stuhlbarg) is questioned about how much they will be making from this thing, he redefines vague, which should have been a red flag for the guys right there. It's not long before we see Stuhlbarg grumbling about the botched heist and we learn that he's not the boss in this thing anyway and that it seems to go all the way to the mayor (Ron Perlman), but I was never really sure, because before we met the mayor, Stuhlbarg was reporting the mess to a baker (Alfred Molina). And why would police send in Rory's therapist to negotiate with the guys.
The film does remain watchable though because Damon and Affleck,] are so damned likable, producing a chemistry that has to be partially credited to director Doug Liman, who also staged some spectacular sequences. Hong Chau, Oscar nominee for The Whale is a lot of as Rory's therapist, as are Toby Jones, Walter Pau Hauser, Jack Harlow, Andre de Shields, and Ving Rhames, who appears unbilled. No masterpiece, but it will hold your attention for a couple of hours.
The story is a little confusing, but the 2024 action comedy The Instigators is worth a look thanks to a terrific cast and the director of The Bourne Identity in the director's chair.
The movie is set in Boston where we meet Rory (Oscar winner Matt Damon) and Cobby (Oscar winner Casey Affleck, a couple of losers who have agreed to participate in a heist at a political benefit for the mayor and his candidate where it costs $500 a seat. Unfortunately, the heist goes terrible wrong,, forcing Rory and Cobby to go on the run, along with Rory's therapist, Dr. Rivera.
Affleck co-wrote this muddy screenplay with Chuck MacLean that seems to borrow elements from several other films like the Oceans franchise, Dog Day Afternoon, Payback, and The Sugarland Express where we not only find ordinary Joes caught up in extraordinary circumstances, but they are very well protected by the screenplay that throws in everything but the kitchen sink to make our heroes come out that way.
The film starts off promisingly as we understand Rory and Cobby's need to be involved in this caper. As a matter of fact, Rory declares an exact amount he needs from this heist. When the guy hiring our boys (Michael Stuhlbarg) is questioned about how much they will be making from this thing, he redefines vague, which should have been a red flag for the guys right there. It's not long before we see Stuhlbarg grumbling about the botched heist and we learn that he's not the boss in this thing anyway and that it seems to go all the way to the mayor (Ron Perlman), but I was never really sure, because before we met the mayor, Stuhlbarg was reporting the mess to a baker (Alfred Molina). And why would police send in Rory's therapist to negotiate with the guys.
The film does remain watchable though because Damon and Affleck,] are so damned likable, producing a chemistry that has to be partially credited to director Doug Liman, who also staged some spectacular sequences. Hong Chau, Oscar nominee for The Whale is a lot of as Rory's therapist, as are Toby Jones, Walter Pau Hauser, Jack Harlow, Andre de Shields, and Ving Rhames, who appears unbilled. No masterpiece, but it will hold your attention for a couple of hours.