MASTERMINDS (6 out of 10) Directed by Jared Hess; Written by Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, and Emily Spivey; Starring Zach Galifianakis, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis, Owen Wilson, Leslie Jones, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Ken Marino; Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, some language and violence; 94 minutes; In wide release September 30, 2016.
Based on the true story of the biggest cash heist in the history of the United States and from the director of Napoleon Dynamite comes a story of broad characters and comedy and what can best be described as “Coen Brothers Lite.” Like the Coens, we get a convoluted crime story and hilarious performances. Unfortunately, unlike the Coens, who usually let us laugh at situations or irony, this often feels like we’re laughing at our characters or looking down our noses at them, so it comes off a bit mean-spirited. And while the film features the same sort of PG-13 friendly humor that will require few edits to make it on to basic cable, this movie also features one of the grossest poop jokes in recent cinematic memory.
Zach Galafanakis plays David Ghantt, a mullet-wearing armored car driver who wishes his life were as exciting as all the action movies he loves featuring Steven Seagal and Jean Claude Van Damme (oh, did I mention this is a period piece set in 1997?). Despite being engaged to be married to Jandice (Kate McKinnon– who is the best thing about this movie), he has a little crush on his co-worker Kelly (Kristen Wiig). When Kelly and her ne’er do well friends, led by Steve (Owen Wilson) propose to rob an armored car, they set up Ghantt as their patsy, with plans to send him down to Mexico while the heat dies down. When things start to go awry, including FBI agents (Leslie Jones) getting too close to the truth, they hire an assassin (Jason Sudeikis) to kill David.
It’s a pretty fun ride. The skills of the cast are apparent, especially its female leads. Literally you cannot say enough about Kate McKinnon and how amazing she is. Two particularly hilarious sequences involve a series of terrible engagement photos and (because of course) a fight in a Walmart changing room.
McKinnon shows she is one of the best working comedic actors today and singlehandedly saves this movie from complete mediocrity by changing this character from someone who is interestingly-written but not overly memorable to something magical and strange. In an interview with NBC, McKinnon mentions she lobbied to have the character’s named changed from its original (something simple and normal, like Karen) to Jaundice. They wanted to compromise and make it Janice, but she said they should split the difference and make it Jandice.
One person who definitely didn’t bring it this movie was Owen Wilson, who seemed intent on just performing what was on the page and not much more. He’s fine– there’s nothing wrong with his performance. But if everyone had taken cues from Wilson instead of McKinnon, this movie would be unwatchable.
Luckily, Galifinakis, Wiig, Jones, and Sudeikis all seem intent on making this as fun as possible. And it shows through. What aimed to be Coen Brothers could have ended up an unwatchable mess, but was saved by some incredibly talented actors working at the top of their game.
6 out of 10