Like Doug Liman‘s recent Amazon remake of Road House, his latest streaming effort The Instigators quite frankly misses its calling. Both films should have had wide theatrical runs before hitting the services. They are the kinds of films that are fun to watch with a crowd.
Nevertheless, other than a nominal week in limited release, The Instigators will hit Apple TV+’s home audience on August 9. Still, I have to say Apple has turned out a number of streaming attractions that are a cut above, and this is yet another example. With a grade-A cast led by Matt Damon (who is also a producer with partner Ben Affleck) and Casey Affleck (who co-wrote the script with Chuck MacLean), this is pure, often riotously funny summer entertainment, a perfect blend of genres from action to comedy to crime, not a minute of it to be taken seriously.
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This Boston-set movie is really about the gang that couldn’t shoot straight, a hapless bunch of characters caught up in a botched heist that keeps careening out of control. Affleck plays the rather boisterous Cobby, a failed criminal looking for a change of luck who teams up with his polar opposite, Rory (Damon), a straight-arrow veteran with an ex-wife and a son he is trying to support. It hasn’t been going well, so for the first time in his life he is — with Cobby, whose just out of prison — taking on a criminal enterprise.
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With a mismatched group of robbers along for the ride, he is planning an election-night heist against the corrupt but popular Mayor Miccelli (Ron Perlman), who has been stashing away illicit cash for most of his many terms in office. It is set in motion by low-life wannabe crime boss Mr. Besegai (Michael Stuhlbarg) and associate Richie DeChico (Alfred Molina), who runs a bakery as a cover. They apparently couldn’t get anyone else to attempt to pull this off, so they scrape the bottom of the barrel with Rory and Cobby. To say it all goes terribly wrong would be an understatement, but it leads to a citywide chase with cops, mob types, henchmen and others pursuing our boys.
Along for the ride — literally — is Rory’s VA psychiatrist Dr. Donna Rivera (Hong Chau), who isn’t exactly a pillar of her profession, as it turns out, when she impulsively joins her patient’s forlorn crusade and finds herself fronting for them as a “hostage,” but really not. Watching all this unfold, often in ways that defy credibility and are more designed for action-hungry audiences willing to enter into a state of disbelief, I kept thinking this movie would really be great if it were somehow one of those stranger- than-fiction true stories, a la Dog Day Afternoon. Alas, it is all made up, so you just have to succumb to some of the wild plot turns and go with it. I have to say I had a blas.
What really makes it soar in its terrific cast. Damon and Affleck are perfectly matched as an odd couple we want to succeed. Chau, who worked with Damon in Downsizing, somehow makes us believe this medical professional would so easily abandon all reason and join up on this nutso game. Stuhlbarg, Molina and Ving Rhames as a seen-it-all cop take one-dimensional roles and make then sing, as does Paul Walter Hauser and rapper Jack Harlow, who both have their moments as pathetic crooks. Perlman plays the rotten mayor for all he’s worth, but Toby Jones as his ever-faithful (until he isn’t) lawyer/fixer steals every scene they are in together or apart.
Shout-out to film editors William Goldenberg, Saar Klein and Tatiana S. Riegel, who, under Liman’s guidance, keep this thing humming. As the filmmaker behind the likes of Swingers, The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith among others, Liman knows how to navigate this kind of material, never take it seriously and keep us engaged. I should note that Boston itself delivers quite a star turn as the ideal location for this craziness. It’s the perfect summer movie. Enjoy it on your couch.
Producers are Damon, Ben Affleck (the second project for their Artists Equity after Air), Jeff Robinov, Kevin J. Walsh, John Graham and Alison Winter.
Title: The Instigators
Distributor: Apple Original Films
Release date: August 2, 2024 (limited theaters); August 9, Apple TV+
Director: Doug Liman
Screenwriters: Casey Affleck and Chuck MacLean
Cast: Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Hong Chau, Michael Stuhlbarg, Alfred Molina, Ving Rhames, Tobey Jones, Jack Harlow, Paul Walter Hauser, Ron Perlman, Andre DeShields
Rating: R
Running time: 1 hr 41 mins