Josh Reviews The Instigators

In The Instigators, two down on their luck Bostonians — divorced ex-Marine Rory (Matt Damon) and motormouthed alcoholic Cobby (Casey Affleck) — are recruited for a heist.  On election night, Boston’s incumbent mayor Miccelli (Ron Perlman) has scheduled a victory party, and criminal partners Mr. Begasi (Michael Stuhlbarg) and Richie Dechico (Alfred Molina) think it’s a sure bet he’ll have a lot of donation and pay-off cash on hand.  So they recruit Rory, Cobby, and their guy Scalvo (Jack Harlow) to pull off the robbery.  Of course, things go sideways immediately, and soon Rory and Cobby find themselves on the run from everyone: Begasi and Dechico, the cops, and the pissed-off mayor, who sends his fix-it guy Frank Toomey (Ving Rhames) after them.  The Instigators was directed by Doug Liman (Swingers, The Bourne Identity, The Edge of Tomorrow) and written by Casey Affleck (who plays Cobby in the film) and Chuck Maclean.

I had a lot of fun watching this!  The Instigators is an engaging, fast-paced heist-gone-wrong caper.  Doug Liman (reuniting with Matt Damon two decades after The Bourne Identity) gives the film a polished look, and the man can still helm a great action sequence.  (There’s a dynamite car chase late in the film that I loved.)  The script by Casey Affleck and Chuck Maclean is sharp and very funny.

And boy is this film packed with stars!  Let’s start with Mr. Damon and Mr. Affleck, who are an absolute hoot in the lead roles.  I love their easy chemistry together.  Obviously these two have been in one another’s lives for many years, but I think this is the first time they’ve been paired up as a leading duo.  They’re both dynamite.  It’s always enjoyable when these two lean into their Boston accents.  Both Rory and Cobby are losers, but they’re lovable losers.  It’s critical that we like these two numb-skulls, and Mr. Damon and Mr. Affleck bring enough charm and charisma that they quickly roped me as a viewer into rooting for their characters.  The best parts of the movie are when these two are bantering and taking the piss out of one another.  Thankfully the film allows plenty of space for that.

Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man, Steve Jobs, The Post, The Shape of Water) and Alfred Molina (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Spider-Man: No Way Home) are also a ton of fun as another criminal duo, albeit a pair higher up on the Boston crime food chain.  Mr. Stuhlbarg plays Mr. Begasi, who seems to be the number one guy, the intense guy making the plans.  Mr. Molina plays Richie Dechio, and he seems to be the guy who gets things done.  He seems far more laid back than Mr. Begasi.  He also seems to run a bakery, which I want to know more about!  I wish both these guys had a few more scenes in the film.  (I also wish they didn’t vanish from the film’s third act.  I ended the film annoyed that we never found out what became of them.  Then I read online that there was a mid-credits scene that circled back to them, so I went back and watched it.  It’s a short scene, but don’t miss it when watching this film.)

Hong Chau (Inherent Vice, Watchmen, Asteroid City) is wonderful as Rory’s therapist, Dr. Donna Rivera.  She gets wrapped up in this caper in the second half of the movie, and while those plot twists stretched my credulity, the film really comes to life when the Rory-Cobby duo becomes a trio with her along.  Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction, The Green Mile, the Mission: Impossible films) is wonderful as the tough, man-of-few-words Frank Toomey.  Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Drive, Nightmare Alley) is perfect, and a ton of fun to watch, as the gruff, belligerent, corrupt mayor Miccelli.  Toby Jones (Infamous, Frost/Nixon, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Captain America: The First Avenger) is delightful as Mayor Micelli’s squirmy right-hand toady.  Paul Walter Hauser (The Afterparty season 2, Orion and the Dark, Inside Out 2) steals the show in a few scenes as dim-bulb killer Booch, who’s sent after Rory and Cobby.  Jack Harlow hits all the right notes as Scalvo, who’s a key reason the heist goes so wrong.  André De Shields commands the screen in his scenes as Mr. Kelly, who owns the bar Cobby likes to frequent.  (It was never not funny that everyone misunderstands Cobby when he describes it as “my bar” — meaning he likes to drink there, not that he owns it.)

The film’s first 15 or so minutes were a little wobbly… I wasn’t sure if I was going to be into this story.  I thought the narrative could have been smoother; I didn’t initially understand the mechanics of how and why Rory and Cobby were both brought into the heist.  And the movie really surprised me that we jumped right to the heist so quickly.  But that heist, and the increasingly unfortunate turns it takes, was a terrific sequence, and once Rory and Cobby were forced to go on the run together, I was hooked into the film.  I liked the film’s shaggy, down to earth energy.  Yes, the plot takes a few outlandish twists and turns, but I really enjoyed hanging with these two characters, and I think the filmmakers knew that was the film’s greatest strength.  I’m happy they allowed plenty of space for these characters to bicker and get on one another’s nerves.  That was fun.  The film has a brisk run-time and zips along at a good pace; it doesn’t outstay its welcome.

My biggest complaint is that I don’t really understand the title!  I guess the idea is these two knuckleheads instigate all sorts of problems?  But it doesn’t seem like to me like that title is a good fit for this story.  Oh well.

The Instigators is worth your time; you can check it out on Apple TV+ right now.

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