Are Casey Affleck and Matt Damon the Instigators they used to be?

Bostonians Casey Affleck and Matt Damon teamed up for an AppleTV crime comedy (crimedy?), The Instigators. The movie follows two low-to-mid level criminals attempting a heist which becomes more complicated than they originally expected. 

But does the movie land a big score? The Conservative Critic asks: Is it entertaining? Does it have artistic/intellectual value/ And is it liberal propaganda? 

Overall Rating: Made-for-streaming quality 

The Instigators is not the caliber of film that most have come to expect from Matt Damon, Casey Affleck or Apple TV. But for a typical made-for-streaming ‘buddy’ romp, it’s perfectly serviceable and even above average. The story follows Matt  Damon (The Departed) as Rory who is a very low level petty criminal in need of a very specific and low dollar amount of cash to rectify a personal trouble. He becomes entangled with Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea) as Cobby who is a career criminal involved in organized criminal enterprise at a mid level. Cobby takes Rory under his wing to pull off a heist which does not go according to plan. The film is 4:1 comedy:crime thriller. 

While The Instigators never creates any intrigue around the relatively low-stakes heist scenario, it is routinely clever. If not funny, The Instigators is charming and a little nostalgic. It feels like a film audiences have seen before in a good way like Damon and Affleck doing what they’ve always been meant to do. 

Since Apple TV is the first streaming service to produce an Academy Award Best Picture film (the absolutely stunningly brilliant, CODA) and has consistently produced critically acclaimed content, The Instigators starring two award winning actors may have left audiences feeling like there was more to be desired. But viewing through the lens of a summer made-for-streaming comedy, The Instigators is perfectly good and a fun watch for a casual afternoon. 

Is it entertaining?

Rating: Moderately funny 

The Instigators is mainly a comedy. Throughout the film, Damon and Affleck produce easy smiles with their characters on a bumbling ‘every man’ journey into the world of heist. There are repeat bits, there is physicality, and there is a cheeky morbidity that keeps the movie light and easy to be taken with. 

The Instigators is a completely appropriate 1 hour and 40 minutes which doesn’t give audiences a lot of room to be bored even with a pretty straightforward plotline. 

Does it have intellectual/artistic value? 

Rating: Somewhat

Damon and Affleck are believable in roles that seem to reflect their real life caricatures. Their supporting cast does nothing but add to the quality including Jack Harlow (known for his music) as Scalvo, Hong Chau (The Whale) as Dr. Rivera,  and particularly Ron Perlman (Hellboy) as the embattled Mayor Micceli. 

The writing starts and stops with the dialogue. The story is shallow where character motivations and connections to one another are pretty flimsy. Despite being a relatively short and uncomplicated story, some of the story never comes to make sense or seem related to anything else happening on screen. The movie suffers from “and then” syndrome where events happen one after another seemingly in no particular relationship to the events before re: “And then this happened…”  The acting performances definitely bolster the movie quality above where the writing positions it. 

Is it liberal propaganda? 

Rating: No

While the corruption of politicians is a central theme in the plotline, there is no noticeable bend toward one party or another in terms of the accusation of corruption. 

Conclusion 

The Instigators is a perfectly fine made-for-streaming quality ‘crimedy’ worth taking a look at on a slow afternoon.