The Instigators
The Instigators
Two “Quincy bums” without qualifications get into a lot of trouble because they spectacularly bungle the robbery of Boston’s corrupt mayor on election night. The Instigators is led by Matt Damon and Casey Affleck in a comedy that takes them through a maze of hilarious incompetence. A frothy comedy that thrives on absurdity, this film starts off well enough but loses momentum as it searches for coherence in its ending. This can be fatal for films but the likable leads and running gags keep The Instigators funny all through.
Rory (Matt Damon), who is going through an extremely bitter divorce, shares his sorrows with Dr. Rivera (Chau). He owes money everywhere and hasn’t seen his son in ages. Meanwhile, at Bova’s Bakery, Mr B., the mob boss owner (Stuhlbarg), really lets Scalvo (Harlow) and Richie (Alfred Molina) know how he feels about their failure to find a crew in time. Life just handed him the easiest score of all time; now he must find help fast.
Cobby was recently released from prison and sits alone and penniless in line at his dead father’s bar. He should have taken Scalvo’s call to settle scores, but he didn’t answer it. To Cobby’s surprise Rory has waited there too at an abandoned beach club – who is this guy? What is he doing here? Cobby curses Scalvo when he sees him, however, Mr B is not screaming mad all the time for nothing; if they want to steal riches beyond dreams, then they have no other option than quickly making up a plan.
Mayor Miccelli believes his re-election to be certain—he will have his victory party down on the docks. Mr B knows every person seeking the mayor’s favor will bring untraceable cash stacks. All you need do is walk inside rob some people then walk out with bags of money. What could possibly go wrong?
Director Doug Liman (Swingers, Amazon’s Road House) reteams with Damon from The Bourne Identity, but Rory couldn’t be farther from being a top-rate secret agent. He was a Marine mechanic and never committed any crimes. Cobby does have some criminal past but he is not a real criminal either. They are literally the only guys available for the job with the clock ticking.
Rory and Cobby are brought together as strangers who must depend on each other in a potentially dangerous situation. Neither believes that what they’re about to do will be cake walk, although they could never have predicted how horribly it would turn out. That’s an understatement if ever there was one.
Damon and Affleck haven’t missed a beat and play well against type with hilarious chemistry between them. But Rory and Cobby aren’t entirely clueless at all. They know enough about street-smarts to realize getting caught means certain death. It is this aspect of them staying ahead of their relentless pursuers that provides the best parts of the film. Perlman and Stuhlbarg steal every scene simply by appearing furious beyond measure; if Cobby and Rory don’t get caught then they lose everything; Molina meanwhile is also very funny with his deadpan delivery of increasingly bad news being just one highlight among many others in which there’s much laughter to be had).
Affleck and Chuck Maclean’s (City on a Hill) script hits second act bumps tying the loose threads together. Rory and Cobby can only run for so long before something else has to happen. Unfortunately, the narrative relies on ludicrous decisions and ridiculous situations to get to its head-scratching climax that makes no sense whatsoever.
The Instigators can be dissected to pieces, but the goal here isn’t an airtight plot or wild action scenes. Damon, Affleck, and the fantastic supporting ensemble are a laugh riot. The film never has a dull moment. It entertains with memorable characters that leave an impression. Stick around during the credits.
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- Genre: Comedy, Featured, Popular Movies, Thriller, Top Rated Movies
- Country: United States
- Director: Doug Liman
- Cast: Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Hong Chau, Michael Stuhlbarg, Paul Walter Hauser, Ving Rhames, Alfred Molina, Toby Jones, Jack Harlow, Ron Perlman, André De Shields, Toby Onwumere, Rob Gronkowski, Natalie Carter, Owen Earls, Richie Moriarty, David Gborie, Sheika Murray, Perry Strong, Walter Terry Liebman, Slate Holmgren,
