MASTERMINDS (2016)
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2017 David N. Butterworth

**1/2 (out of ****)

When playing a lovable schlub, usually with some awkward haircut and/or
suspect facial hair, Zack Galifianakis is at his bumbling best, rarely
failing to inject sweet-natured nuttiness into a project. And
Galifianakis' goofball characterizations don't come any more lovable (and schlubable!) than David Ghannt, the "leading man" of the low-brow comedy "Masterminds." Based on a true story, the film revolves around the biggest armored car heist in U.S. history, in which inept thieves made off with $17 million in cash and left a trail of evidence, metaphorically speaking, "...stretching all the way to Terre Haute, Indiana" (to quote "A Christmas Story"). Director Jared Hess ("Napoleon Dynamite") and his super sporting, SNL-centric cast milk the audacious, stranger-than-fiction proceedings of
every comic possibility. Not every gag lands, but those that do make this broad yet likable comedy worth a $3.99 online stream. David works an unsatisfying job as a driver for Loomis Fargo and is seduced by co-worker
Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig in a push-up bra), who's in cahoots with a lame-brained criminal mastermind played by Owen Wilson, to rip off his employer. The crooks plan to dupe David, of course, by sending him down to Mexico with a small cut of the money, with dubious plans to "meet up with
him later." But things rarely go according to plan when you've got this lovable a schlub as the fall guy. Jason Sudekis is a hoot as a hitman
(with even more disturbing facial hair) as is Kate McKinnon as David's bride-to-be, the wonderfully-named Jandice.

--
David N. Butterworth
rec.arts.movies.reviews
butterworthdavidn@gmail.com

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