Masterminds

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David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis) is a bumbling armor truck driver. Jandice (Kate McKinnon) is his bossy girlfriend. He's infatuated with coworker Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig) who accidentally fires her gun and gets fired. Three weeks later, her petty criminal friend Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson) comes up with an idea. They recruit sweet-natured David to steal from the company's vault. He cleans out $17 million. They give him fake ID Mike McKinney and send him to Mexico. FBI Agent Scanlon (Leslie Jones) leads the investigation. Steve turns David in for the reward but he manages to escape. Steve's wife (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) starts spending loads of money. They hire the real Mike McKinney (Jason Sudeikis) to kill David. Everybody is going full-on crazy weird. The problem is that it's rarely funny and the batting average is rather low. That takes away the comedy even when the jokes actually work. Director Jared Hess of Napoleon Dynamite fame is filling this 'real' story with wacky characters. I wonder if it would be funnier if he played it straight dead-pan. This cast is stacked but that might have driven them to try out-comedy each other.

Why? How? Just why and how? How and why? How in the heck did they mess up such a great story which happens to be based on true events? Why did they even bother to make this movie if they were going to use a screenwriter with nothing to his name and a director who's one and only hit was Napoleon Dynamite? If you are going to gamble on such a pair then why use an all-star comedic cast and a true story that should have practically wrote itself? Whatever, I'm over it. This movie is a waste of time and I only laughed once while watching it. I'm not going to explore the world or anything trying to explain why this film fails so freaking much. I'm just trying to end this review with as little effort as possible.

The film reminded me 'Pain & Gain', only for inspiring from the real and being the comedy flicks. Other than that there's nothing in common between them. I have been expecting a lot from Zack since 'The Hangover', but it was always the near missed opportunities. I'm not saying this was his much needed breakthrough, but quite enjoyable film. An honest man who worked long enough as a guard for a bank, was approached by his ex colleague and her men with an offer. Since he was madly in love with her, he could not say no to it, despite he already got engaged to another woman. As planned the heist goes on and once it was done, he was ditched and ratted out. Now on the run, how he responds to it and the following events decides his fate. Not a great comedy nor a heist film, but it had its moments. The casting was good and it was Zack's show. The rest of them were not into that much, except in the final act. Jason Sudeikis was a bonus. His appearance added more fun. Now I know why Jim Carrey opted out. Owen Wilson's part was not good enough in such a small role, he did good though. Watching it for timepass is fine or even for beyond that seems not a bad try. 7/10

I have watched 1000s of movies in recent years. I have not reviewed a single one. I had to review this title. I was shocked that this movie generated a 5.7 average. I have not laughed so hard in ages. It is not a super-smart type of humor, but gets the job done. If you're not super uptight you will love this movie. Truly a gem in the comedy genre as I have stopped watching comedies due to the stupidity of the humor. Here, it's not overdone. While sometimes childish, still executed with taste. Being based on a true story is what initially sold the movie; however, I believe the real heist was just an inspiration for the movie. Therefore, do not expect a true story feel to this movie, just a laugh out loud comedy.

I liked this comic take on a true life crime story about a bank heist. There is quite a collection of comic talent here and they are given a chance to shine as various types of white trash. Zach has been quite annoying in some previous movies but here he is the star and he is good. Kristin is good too and prettier than usual. Owen Wilson is always welcome. Jason is fairly funny too. The good part of this comedy is it doesn't rely on excessive crudeness than plagues recent comedies in order to be funny. The story itself is funny and there are quite a few unexpected laugh out loud moments as the action goes from NC to Mexico. Worth a watch.

I watched this not knowing what to expect and found myself laughing a lot and enjoying it thoroughly. I was surprised to see that it was not better received (not too surprised though, as it seems only the most popular movies get any positive reviews and there tends to be a bandwagon effect). Based on true story of one of the largest cash heists in history, it follows the crazy story of its perpetrators and their attempts to avoid being caught. Zach Galifianakis and other cast members are hilarious. The makers of the film obviously took pains to add little details to every scene that really add to the comedy. In the beginning, for example, there is a scene of awkwardfamilyphotos.com style engagement photos that is so great. Plot twists as the film progressed to its conclusion kept the story interesting. There were some parts that were hard to buy, but it was a comedy after all. It's on Netflix currently.