It's never a good sign when a film ends with both a "where are they now" sequence and a blooper reel. Despite its impressive lineup of talent, "Masterminds" is wrought with disappointment. Director Jared Hess's newest film recounts the true story of one of the biggest heists committed in the U.S., executed by a conman (Owen Wilson), an armored truck driver (Zach Galifianakis), and an ex-coworker-turned-love-interest (Kristen Wiig). Unfortunately, "Masterminds" throws away all structuring of an intelligent heist film like "Oceans Eleven" out the window, in favor of a disjointed series of absurd action sequences and obscene jokes in the taste of the director's 2006 "Nacho Libre."
Hess's newest film is a significant leap backwards from his endearing indie comedy "Napoleon Dynamite" (2004). The director's once-praised brand of dry, subtle humor has been replaced with obnoxious slapstick gags and embarrassingly cheap sexual innuendos. And one would think that with the film's cast of "Saturday Night Live" alumni and comedy veterans, the delivery of these jokes would be somewhat more bearable. Yet strapping an unconvincing wig on Zach Galifianakis and throwing him in size-too-small cutoff shorts doesn't make his fart jokes any more amusing. The same can be said for the rest of the surprisingly underutilized all-star cast. Owen Wilson, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Kristen Wiig all deliver bland, lacking performances. Jason Sudeikis, who appears as an inconveniently compassionate assassin, offers one of the more entertaining performances, yet even then doesn't make up for the rest of the stars who seem to be sleepwalking through the whole film. Most insufferable is lead Zach Galifianakis, whose ceaseless southern twang becomes nails on a chalkboard after the first 10 minutes.
In defense of "Masterminds," the film did face a troubled production- it was one of the last films developed before Relativity Media filed bankruptcy in 2015. The aftermath is clear, as the film unapologetically flaunts numerous shots with appallingly cheap special effects. Yet beyond the lazy performances and horrible effects, there lies a problem that even a producing credit from Lorne Michaels can't fix. "Masterminds" is a poorly structured comedy. It plays like a slapstick fever dream, dragging the audience from one absurd sequence to a seemingly dissociated other. The underdeveloped romance between Galifianakis and Wiig and the shoehorned villainy of Wilson all lead to an undeserved, yet undoubtedly entertaining climax. By that time, "Masterminds" picks up. It's just unfortunate that audiences have to sit through an hour of middle-school level humor before getting to the actual, explosive fun. For a film that seems to sacrifice everything for the sake of a joke, its jokes almost always fall flat, deserving nothing more than an irritated sigh. Don't expect anything more than uncreative jokes and a lacking heist plot delivered by over-qualified comedy superstars.
Watch the trailer below:
Reach Staff Reporter Matthew Carieri here.
Annenberg Media