Masterminds is based on a true story of a 1997 Loomis Fargo Bank Robbery of an armored vehicle, which is considered one of the biggest heists in American history. The film strictly adheres to a goofy comedy format that mocks the region as much as the criminals involved in the heist even though it can also be called a period piece. It stars Zach Galifianakis as David Ghantt and Kristen Wiig as Kelly, the coworker that he has a crush on.
Until I started watching Masterminds, I did not realize that it was based on a true story. I only put it in my queue because I love Kristen Wiig. I actually love everyone in the cast: Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Leslie Jones and Ken Marino. So I’m incredibly disappointed that I never thought it was even theoretically ha ha funny because I really wanted to laugh at some dumb, broad comedy. If the filmmaker was looking for a better model of a comedy true crime story, he should have watched Richard Linklater’s Bernie, which strikes a perfect balance between empathizing with and mocking its subject. It was entertaining, insightful and informative whereas this film can boast of none of those things.
If you insist on watching Masterminds, then only do so for Jason Sudeikis and Kate McKinnon. Sudeikis’ character’s storyline is casually alluded to long before he appears, but when we finally see him, and his character encounters David, you will figure out that they were talking about him! It is the most hilarious diffusing of a volatile situation since the resolution of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice when the titular heroes realize that their mothers have the same name. It is the only moment that feels like a genuine payoff for paying attention to the movie. The KFC moment felt like a homage to Matthew McConaughey in Killer Joe. His storyline is the best part of the movie, and maybe the movie should have revolved around him instead of the man that led to the manhunt.
I love McKinnon’s unhinged and scene stealing portrayal of the fiancé. McKinnon is often the best part of any production that she is in, but her depiction is so pitch perfect that it feels less like acting and more like channeling an actual person that she met in the way that she walks the tightrope of cheery convention in practice and unique, deadpan reality. The whole character is incongruous, but feels rooted in reality in a way that the other characters don’t, but rely on caricature to mock Southern accents and equate certain external signifiers as dumb. I have a pro Northeastern regional bias, and it still did nothing for me so I can imagine that the movie fell flat elsewhere.
The early interplay between the coworkers, including Ty, played by Njema Williams, worked, but is sadly short-lived. The best jokes are standalone funny, but for some reason fail to land and resonate then build upon each other into a resounding, bring the house down crescendo. The other jokes such as Jones’ character being mistaken for a man rest on that stereotype, cheap joke funny that only makes you stare in disappointment. I also think that a lot of potential was lost when more time was not spent establishing how the heist members stood out in their new neighborhood, but again, I could be biased because I think if you have Marino, always use more Marino.
Perhaps the narrative was hurt by making David into the narrator of Masterminds when he could not possibly know what was happening when he wasn’t around, which is a great portion of the movie. The most hilarious moment between David and Kelly is the juxtaposition of his perception versus the reality of her vocal talents. She is no siren and tone deaf. I’m supposed to be invested in David, who is an everyday by the book guy and rooting for him to break out of his routine and go big, i.e. jilt his fiancé and go for his dream girl, by embarking on a life of crime as the surest route to seizing the day. Yippee? A character does not have to be likeable for me to root for him, and I highly doubt that this heist was David’s first brush with running afoul of the law. I’m not saying that it could not be funny, or it could never work, but the aw schucks, cartoony mesmerized into criminal shenanigans thing did not work for me in this movie. I really wanted it to, especially with such goofs as writing on your arm with a pencil.
Masterminds’ director and writer also did Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre and a couple of episodes of The Last Man on Earth so the quality of his work swings wildly. I put Gentlemen Broncos, another one of his films, in my queue after seeing the preview and loving a member of the cast, but I’m now reconsidering that decision since Jared Hess’ body of work is so uneven and inconsistent. He usually writes with his wife, Jerusha Hess, so maybe she was the missing key ingredient in Masterminds.
I would suggest that you skip Masterminds and watch almost anything else by this amazing cast, including an episode of Saturday Night Live. Instead watch Bernie or if you are looking for something more profane and adult, check out Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street.