Review: A slog going around in aimless circles, ‘The Instigators’ finds temporary salvation in its lead stars

At first glance, The Instigators has all the hallmarks of a successful heist film. Directed by Doug Liman, who is responsible for the likes of Mr. and Mrs. Smith and the recent Road House reboot, there was a lot of potential. But we would be remiss if we did not address the elephant in the room.

The chemistry between leads Matt Damon and Casey Affleck often overshadows the two sexual harassment cases against the latter that were settled outside of court. Because even though the movie is stacked to the gills with impressive actors including Ron Perlman, Alfred Molina, Ving Rhames, and Michael Stuhlbarg, there is very little meat on these bones. What starts out as a very promising heist comedy loses steam after the first act. And the rest is just a prayer to get to the end of a film that only clocks in at 101 minutes.

That said, what really works for the movie is the little things as it tries to honor the promise of its premise. At this point in pop culture, everyone knows about Damon and the Affleck brothers’ Boston roots. Damon and Ben Affleck won an Oscar for the Boston-centric film Good Will Hunting and have maintained their friendship for the past two decades. For his part, this is not the first time that Casey Affleck has costarred alongside his brother’s best friend either. Both Damon and the younger Affleck were prime components of the Ocean’s series in the early aughts. This connection carries through to The Instigators.

Damon and Affleck act with the familiarity and humor that two lifelong friends should have. But that is where the delights of the film stop. After the first 30 minutes, the film loses the plot. It also suffers from drastic tonal shifts that make the story hard to pin down. The Instigators follows a former Marine, Rory (Damon), who is at his lowest. The first scene is a startling shock to reality as he confesses to his therapist, Dr. Rivera (Hong Chau), that if things don’t look up for him, he will consider taking his life. Not really the best setup for a comedy which is further undercut by the introduction to Cobby (Affleck).

And what an introduction. We come across Cobby as he has enlisted a neighborhood kid to breathe into a breathalyzer attached to his motorbike so he can unlock it and go to — you guessed it — a bar. This would be a fantastic introduction if viewers weren’t legitimately concerned for the mental state of Rory. At the end of the day, these factors ultimately define the film. Tonal whiplash is a near constant throughout the feature.

And while the leads have a great back and forth, the film doesn’t quite stick the landing of what it is trying to accomplish. By all accounts, Rory should be the straight-man to Cobby’s wise-cracking character. But The Instigators doesn’t quite try to commit to this dynamic. In different hands, perhaps it could have been a more heightened comedy about bumbling criminals in over their heads. But the film never quite goes that far. After the plan to steal Mayor Miccelli’s (Perlman) run-off celebration money goes awry, the events the characterizations of this odd couple disappear. Rory and Cobby become the scapegoats for the death of a cop, which means the film gets far heavier than it has any right to be. They try to escape law enforcement who are convinced they are cop killers. There is little time for funny shenanigans after that.

If it weren’t for the general camaraderie and joy between Damon and Affleck, The Instigators would be a tonally confusing dud. Plot threads including their bosses’ stake in the heist go abandoned, as well as Rory’s initial intentions. His main plot arc includes trying to get money to honor his financial obligations to his son which disappears by the climax of the film. After being arrested for their role in the heist, they get released only because of the new Mayor’s hypocritical corruption. This leaves both characters right back where they started, which feels like a waste of a movie.

Both Rory and Cobby have developed as people. Rory goes to see his kid play hockey and realizes he doesn’t need money to be a good father, while it is implied that Cobby seeks therapy from Dr. Rivera. But the film barely meditates on these internal struggles to begin with. The loss of money and a lackluster ending makes the final act of the film unsatisfactory. For all the love of Boston and the talent of its actors, The Instigators deserved commitment to the genre which could have resulted in truly hilarious fare. Given the right material, these two could have done wonders with a straight comedy akin to Ocean’s 11.