S Poddar
The Instigators, the latest collaboration between Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, is not exactly setting the box office or critical world on fire. The heist comedy comes to gin rummy theaters on August 2nd and then hits Apple TV+ a week later, and reviews have been chilly.
Pits two ill-matched crooks—Damon and Affleck—against their own therapist who joins them on the lam after a heist goes haywire. Reuniting Identity‘s Damon with its director, Doug Liman, this is far inferior to the blockbuster masterpiece. Lamentably, The Instigators lacks that same punch.
Though the on-screen chemistry between these two leads was lauded by several critics, the film itself has been denigrated for everything from being called “banal” to “tedious.” Some said the plot was as generic as they come.
The Instigators now sports the miserable 39% Rotten Tomatoes score. One critic called it “underwritten, dreary and bereft of tension of any kind.” Another said it’s a “jumbled mess.”
Yet not everyone is panning the film. Some reviews have actually been fairly accepting of the movie’s breezy tone and the chemistry of Damon and Affleck.
In the end, it is not easy to say if The Instigators will be remembered as a hidden gem or simply a forgettable blip on the resumé of its stars.
