‘The Instigators’ movie review: Matt Damon-led heist comedy should have rocked, but does not 

A still from ‘The Instigators’ 

Caper movies are fun and when you have one with Doug Liman, who directed adrenaline-charged movies including Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Edge of Tomorrow, reuniting with his The Bourne Identity lead, Matt Damon, you expect fireworks. The Instigators, while engaging enough, is not particularly mind-blowing.  

The film opens with Rory (Damon), an ex-Marine in session with his therapist, Donna Rivera (Hong Chau). Rory is at a dead end in his life, divorced and needing $32,480 to clear pending child support payments and other commitments when this job comes up.

The plan is to rob the dreadfully corrupt Mayor of Boston, Miccelli (Ron Perlman), on election night. Miccelli is bound to win and through the night all sorts of awful people will come in with suitcases of money to buy contracts, which his lawyer and factotum, Alan Flynn (Toby Jones), helps put away.

The heist is planned by Besegai (Michael Stuhlbarg) with his right hand man, Dechico (Alfred Molina,) in Besegai’s bakery amid all the sugary confections. Cobby (Casey Affleck), who has done hard time (for a job he did not do) is part of the crew as is Scalvo (Jack Harlow). Rory, being new to the heist business, takes notes (on paper and not his phone) and asks annoying questions during the briefing and operation, including the valid one of what if Miccelli’s rival, Mark Choi (Ronnie Cho), were to win the election.

Things go very badly wrong as they usually do in caper films and suddenly Rory and Cobby are on the run from law enforcement and a bunch of bad guys including the mayor’s personal enforcer Frank Toomey (Ving Rhames) and a psychopathic hitman called Booch (Paul Walter Hauser). A bracelet, which Miccelli desperately wants to get back from the inept criminals, is also in the mix.

Donna being dragged into Rory and Cobby’s getaway brings an Analyze This vibe and room for some laughs. Cobby’s drinking has him fit a breathalyser to his bike (it does not start until he passes the breath test), and he has some inventive ways of getting around it. Rhames with his hat and coat brings back memories of Marsellus Wallace from Pulp Fiction as do the extraordinarily chatty characters. The all-star cast is wonderful to watch by itself, but do not come together to present a sparkling whole. The chemistry between Damon and Affleck does not work, neither does the therapist as part of getaway with analysis on the run. More’s the pity.

The Instigators premieres on Apple TV+ on August 9