We are six films into the career of stupidity maestro Jared Hess. In that time, he’s given us Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre and Gentlemen Broncos, all of which revel in the shenanigans of the weird and dim-witted. His unabashed love of both makes him the best and worst choice for Masterminds, a new comedy loosely based on the 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery, in which eight co-conspirators made off with $17.3 million in cash from a regional office vault in North Carolina.
Zach Galifanakis stars as David Scott Ghantt, an airheaded but well-meaning vault supervisor unhappily engaged to Jandice (Kate McKinnon), but happily crushing on his manipulative partner Kelly Campbell (a dynamite Kristen Wiig). When Campbell approaches Ghantt with a scheme to rob the vault courtesy of her fiendish childhood friend and local crook Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson on autopilot), Ghantt jumps at the opportunity to escape the clutches of his fiancé and run away with his supposed new lover. Except Campbell and Chambers are double-crossing schemers, there’s a fierce FBI agent (Leslie Jones) on the case and an eccentric psychopath (Jason Sudeikis) will stop at nothing to kill Ghantt.
Not to mention: they’re all idiots.
This sort of ridiculousness lives and dies on its cast. Luckily, Galifanakis, Wiig, and Sudeikis are there to deliver, when they’re given room to riff. Much of the best dialogue feels unmistakably improvised. Galifanakis, in particular, rattles off bizarre sayings (spoken in a ludicrous North Carolinian drawl) on a hilariously consistent basis. Wiig takes advantage of every uncomfortable silence and somehow imbues each one with laughs. Meanwhile, Sudeikis seems right at home inhabiting the enigma of his character. Describing the assassin he is tasked with playing is a momentous task; rest assured, he will make you chuckle, even when you don’t understand why.
But outside of the freewheeling moments that give the cast some room to breathe, Masterminds is a mess. Much of this should be laid at the feet of the five (!) writers who have all touched the script at one point or another. The inconsistency is jarring, especially as the weirdness is gradually cranked up to 11. Going from funny to completely bonkers is fine, provided that some of it feels earned. Unfortunately, there comes a point at which the whole thing is too stupid for its own good.
In the hands of a director capable of moderation, something decent could have been salvaged. Instead, Hess takes every opportunity to latch on to slapstick and gross-out gags, with decidedly mixed results. The heist itself is gold, mostly thanks to Galifanakis’ convincing physical comedy chops. Later on, however, we’re forced to sit there watching some characters fall over, fart in public and break through cheap-looking doorways. The only thing missing is a canned laugh track.
Masterminds is at its best in the moments when it reminds us that some of this actually happened. When it does, it plays like Fargo for idiots; the accents and eccentricities of the characters feel ridiculous, but just inside the realm of possibility enough to be gut-busting. Outside of those moments, it’s a half-funny exercise in people being stupid.
Watch the trailer for Masterminds below: