The Instigators

Starring: Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Hong Chau, Paul Walter Hauser, Michael Stuhlbarg, Ron Perlman, Ving Rhames, Alfred Molina, Jack Harlow

Director: Doug Liman

Rory (Damon) is a former Marine who has fallen on hard times and is unable to pay the money he owes so he can see his son. He unwillingly joins his friend and con man Cobby (Affleck) to help rob Mayor Miccelli (Perlman) on the eve of his re-election party. After the heist goes horribly wrong and they end up in possession of an important bracelet, Rory and Cobby find themselves on the run. With Rory's psychologist Dr. Rivera (Chou) as an unwilling accomplice. the two men attempt to evade the police as well as the men Miccelli has sent after them (Hauser, Rhames) as Rory tries to still get the money he so desperately needs.

In my opinion, streaming movies often get a bad rap. As theaters struggle to survive, there has been a pivot to services like Amazon, Netflix and now Apple TV+, as projects with big name talent in front of and behind the camera make their way into our homes (often for the price of your subscription). However, in my opinion, there are some smaller scale movies that don't need to be seen on the big screen and honestly are best served watching at home. Heck, even before the whole theatrical vs streaming debate came into existence, movies that struggled in the theaters have found success once they reached VOD or on DVD/Blu Ray, It might be a hot take that I don't mind streaming but I also encourage people to see movies in the theater as often as I can.

I bring all this up because this falls perfectly into the "perfect for streaming" category. It is a small-scale heist movie that despite having a couple car chases is just entertaining enough. I think if I had the choice to pay money to see this in a theater or watch a large-scale blockbuster I would chose the blockbuster and get to this if I had the time.

That's not to say this is necessarily a bad movie. It is fun to watch a cast like this participate in a easily digestible and often humorous caper. The movie does a good job at keeping the characters human, as they often make horribly impulsive decisions that keep the plot spiraling out of control. Director Doug Liman, who finally gets to collaborate with Damon again over 20 years after The Bourne Identity, is able to craft a few decent action scenes but the car chase is a far cry from what he was able to craft in that film. As Liman's second release this year (the also on streaming remake of Road House) I would say that I probably enjoyed this one more. And like that film, this one is also saddled with some very unconvincing explosion special effects. It doesn't look as bad on the small screen but it is still noticeable.

As mentioned, the cast is stacked. Damon gives a very charismatic and surprisingly vulnerable performance. He and Affleck work well together despite it being hard to buy Affleck as the more comedic character of the two. It worked in small doses in the Ocean's trilogy but here it becomes a little annoying. I also wish the movie spent more time with some of the side characters, as noted character actors like Michael Stuhlbarg and Alfred Molina only really get one or two scenes and then disappear. Ditto Ving Rhames, who plays a feared character who never really shows us why he is held in that regard. He just shows up, characters get scared and give him what he wants. Rhames can be menacing but the movie never really gives us a legitimate reason to fear him.

Also for such a light film, it ends on a somewhat pessimistic plot point. It felt very real but that doesn't mean that it won't leave a weird aftertaste the more you think about it.

As I said, its not bad but its also not anything you haven't seen before. This is one you can catch at home in under two hours and get some decent entertainment.

Grade: C+

The Instigators is available on AppleTV+