Review of Mystery Team (2009) by Josh G — 25 Aug 2010

I'd like to give the benefit of the doubt to Mystery Team, the first feature-length feature from Derrick Comedy, a group that I had never heard of before renting this movie. What drew me to it was Donald Glover, who I have positive feelings about from being a fan of the under-appreciated television show "Community".

As I said, I'd like to give the benefit of the doubt to Mystery Team because it's got a pretty strong idea behind it, I think. The idea is that there is this group of friends, the titular team, who were hot stuff when they were seven-year-olds solving petty crimes around the neighborhood a la "Encyclopaedia Brown". Whether the case was a missing autographed baseball or a lost dog, no case was too much for the Mystery Team. As they've aged, though, their commitment to the shtick has worn on the citizens of the town. They boys are now about to graduate from high school, but they still ride bicycles, get grossed out by the idea of going on a date with a girl, and accept mystery cases for a dime. That's good, silly fun, and there's a lot of comedy in the anachronistic balance of the child-like team and the dangerous '00s. The convenience store worker who used to give them clues and free ice cream now tells them sordid tales of drug addicts and prostitutes (but still gives them free ice cream). Still, although there is a lot of humor here there are two big problems I had with the movie.

The first comes when the balance between the goody gumshoes and the nasty twenty-first century is thrown askew. It's funny when one of the boys eventually breaks down in exasperation and yells, "Fuck!" It's a curse word, sure, but it works in the context of the situation given that the members of the Mystery Team are all trying to hold onto their innocence for as long as they can. But there are other moments, such as an endless strip club scene which involves fecal matter as a prop or in the inclusion of a constantly cursing child, where whatever wit there was is forgotten altogether. When used sparingly and with a specific intent in mind, the use of profanity can really add to a scene. But too often as Mystery Team progresses, it just devolves into D-grade toilet humor.

The seeming necessity for a dramatic B-story introduces the second problem with the film. I don't fault the filmmakers for wanting to include a story about the team's increasing divisions as they have to cope with the fact that they are indeed aging and must now "grow up", so to speak - it's a perfectly natural concept and could provide the perfect way to round out the characters as long as the story is handled with care. Ah, but this is a movie made by a comedy troupe who has until now specialized in minutes-long YouTube video skits - writing a moving, emotionally-driven dramatic story is obviously not their strong suit. It should perhaps not come as a surprise when the story of the boys' coming to terms with the knowledge that they will have to eventually face reality does not prove to be altogether engaging.

Still, I thought that Donald Glover was great. He is a very good visual comic, although maybe my impression of him was influenced by my experience watching him on "Community". The other two lead characters did not really make much of an impact in my mind. And yes, despite the times when the jokes became too juvenile to bear, it's hard not to feel that there is a genuinely intriguing idea beneath it all that just needed some more polishing before being presented to the world.

I'd like to give Mystery Team the benefit of the doubt, but I just can't yet. I think that Derrick Comedy definitely has the potential to grow toward making something extraordinary... but this isn't it. It's got some exciting sparks, but it's not quite there.