Nerdly » ‘The Instigators’ Review

15th Aug2024

‘The Instigators’ Review

by Jasmine Valentine

Stars: Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Hong Chau, Jack Harlow, Paul Walter Hauser | Written by Chuck Maclean, Casey Affleck | Directed by Doug Liman

Rory (Matt Damon) and Cobby (Casey Affleck) are the unlikeliest of duos, yet they both have one thing in common — they’re robbers. After a heist gone wrong, the pair end up on the run, with the help of one of their therapists. Turns out, two robbers are better than one, teaming up to fight wayward cops, corrupt bureaucrats, and one big bad final boss.

You know what this summer needs? Just boys being boys. There’s just never enough of it. Thankfully, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck are tactfully on hand to quench us in our drought. With a tactful name that feels better prescribed to a children’s book series, The Instigators are a charming, if forgettable pair. That’s not to say the movie isn’t effective in what it’s trying to achieve — and it’s’ remarkably well written – but it’s not going to blow the genre doors wide open.

For Damon in particular, we can’t get enough. Stick him in any old rag-tag story and we’ll be watching. Along with Affleck, it’s their real-life charisma that we’re watching for rather than anything that’s happening fictiously. But isn’t that the hallmark of any great action hero? Let’s face it: The Instigators isn’t a film you’re going to remember tomorrow, let alone in a couple of years time. It’s entirely serviceable and fun, but most likely while you’re doing ironing or nursing a rager of a hangover.

What The Instigators does have, however, is humour… and that’s refreshing. There’s a distinct lack of comedy in an action setting unless it’s taken to pantomime levels, and The Instigators strikes the balance particularly well. Neither Damon nor Affleck takes themselves too seriously, yet they each still commit to giving the best performances they can. The result is something well-rounded, even if it’s not necessarily that good.

There’s a bigger downside to any of what has been said above though — The Instigators is on Apple TV+. Recently, it was reported that Apple’s streaming service had fewer views in a month than Netflix does in a single day, and obviously, that’s a huge problem. What makes things worse is that the level of content there far exceeds most of its rivals (though perhaps this isn’t so true for The Instigators), ticking boxes technically and artistically.

In a nutshell, it almost doesn’t matter how anyone critically engages with The Instigators or whether it’s even objectively good — almost nobody is going to see it. Surely Damon and Affleck took home some pretty hefty paychecks here, and judging by the visuals, a decent spend was injected into the movie’s making. But when you’ve got the world of digital against you, you’re just a passing ship in the night.