Review of Masterminds (2016) by Cory H — 29 Jan 2017

"Goofiness is the only thing on display in this true-life comedy from "SNL" producer Lorne Michaels".

Movie Review: Masterminds.

Date Viewed: October 1 2016.

Directed By Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre and Gentlemen Broncos).

Written By Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer and Emily Spivey.

Starring: Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Karsten Friske, Dallas Edwards, Ken Marino, Devin Ratray, Jon Daly and Ross Kimball.

Goofiness is the only thing on display in this true-life comedy from "SNL" producer Lorne Michaels. "Masterminds" has a very talented comedic cast here but instead of firing good jokes, the movie just plays dumb. Among the actors, Kristen Wiig is the only cast member who stands out from the weak material in "Masterminds". Zach Galifianakis (scoring an awful mullet on his head) on the other hand appears as too manic and too desperate. Current "SNL" players and Wiig's "Ghostbusters" co-stars Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones don't have much to do and Owen Wilson just phones it in.

I like this cast a lot but "Masterminds" plays like a bad "SNL" sketch and Lorne Michaels should know better. The movie is based on the 1997 Loomis Fargo Robbery in North Carolina where bank robbers stole $17 million which at the time became one of the greatest bank heists in U.S. history. This story could've been much smarter instead of being comedically dumb but unfortunately "Masterminds" sat on Relativity Media's studio shelf for two years while dealing with bankruptcy. Some jokes land here and there but "Masterminds" is not inventive or funny enough to satisfy the audience but I've seen worst comedies this year.

Galifianakis plays David Ghantt, a half-dumb/half-smart armor truck driver who's about to get married to Jandice (McKinnon) but he has a crush on his co-worker named Kelly Campbell (Wiig). After Kelly gets fired, she and her sleazy buddy Steve Chambers (Wilson) want David to do an inside job, rob the Loomis Fargo bank. After many hours, David pulls it off, he managed to steal $17 million from the bank. As Steve gets hold of the cash, David flees to Mexico until the authorities cool off and stop looking for him but the FBI led by Special Agent Scanlon (Jones) is not about to let this guy go.

With the FBI getting closer to the trail, Jesse decides to rat on David by hiring a hitman named Mike McKinney (Jason Sudeikis) to track him down and kill him. Directed by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre and Gentlemen Broncos), "Masterminds" adds little flair to it's true-life story and the comedic situations are just tired and forced.

"Masterminds" is another one of those cheap-idea movies that may seem funny on paper but you know immediately that the filmmakers ran out of ideas half-way through and just settled for the easy way out. A true-life heist story with this much comedic talent behind it should deserve a way better movie than this.