Masterminds (2016)

“Masterminds” stars Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and Jason Sudeikis.  Released on September 30, 2016, the film is about a night guard who committed one of the biggest bank heists in American history.

The film is directed by Jared Hess, who also directed films such as Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre, Gentlemen Broncos, and Don Verdean.  It is based on a true story about the 1997 Loomis Fargo Robbery.  I haven’t really heard about this event until I found out that they’re making a movie about it.  It does sound a bit crazy now that I thought about it, but the fact that they actually pulled it off was pretty surprising to me.  The film was originally set for a 2015 release, but due to a financial crisis, Relativity Media rescheduled it for a 2016 release.  As for the other films distributed by Relativity, that’s a story for another day.  Right now, it’s time to see whether or not the masterminds behind this fact-based comedy can pull this heist off.

Pros:
Good performances from the cast.

Some of the humor was funny, but not as hilarious as it could’ve been.

Jared Hess’ direction was decent. 

Cons:
Predictable storyline.

A couple of moments felt underwhelming.

The narrative structure could use some work, mostly in the third act.

Final thoughts: “Masterminds” fell a bit short at being as insane as the heist it’s based on in terms of its amount of laughs.  However, the chemistry between the actors on-screen and the film’s predictable, yet awkwardly humorous, storyline are enough to make this heist a moderate success.  There are other different ways that could make this film work well for me, but I’m not going to complain as long as it manages to hit my funny bone, which it did...most of the time.  If you don’t really care about the story and just want a good laugh, I would say it’s worth watching once in the theatre.  Just don’t rob something on the way there.                                                  

C+