'Blu-ray or Bust' - MASTERMINDS

'Blu-ray or Bust'

MASTERMINDS (2016, PG-13, 95 minutes, RELATIVITY MEDIA)

Some actors get sucked into playing a certain stereotype, and they linger there for years. At times, this works (Will Ferrell in ELF, STEP BROTHERS, and OLD SCHOOL, and Adam Sandler in BILLY MADISON and HAPPY GILMORE), but it eventually gets a bit stale (Ferrell in everything since STEP BROTHERS and Sandler in everything since GILMORE).

Then there is Zach Galifianakis. His breakout role in THE HANGOVER nearly pigeonholed him into playing oddball dimwits. His characters all seem to think they were smarter than everyone else in the room, despite their constant failures and fumblings. Then he did BIRDMAN, and you realized how good of an actor he really is. And while his role as disgruntled armored car employer David Ghantt could have been a setback in his strive for dramatic recognition, the comedic actor really does shine here.

In fact, the entire cast of this film should be commended for the job they do in convincing us that the south is populated with the typical stupid Southern cracker stereotype (see: sarcasm). And that is, honestly, the worst thing about the film. I wasn’t terribly offended by the Southern stereotype, so much as I was irritated that there are absolutely no smart characters AT ALL in the film. Which adds to the humor of it all, but, come on, Hollywood! Not all of us south of the Mason-Dixon Line are complete idiots!

Based on actual events, Ghantt is “befriended” by Kelly (Kristen Wiig), his co-worker at Loomis Fargo. She, with the help of Steve (Owen Wilson), convinces Ghantt to steal over seventeen million in cash from the company. What follows is a comedy of errors that you might think is way off base from the truth, but you’d be surprised. And while Galifianakis might be the star of the show, the title of ‘scene stealer’ belongs to Jason Sudeikis as hired killer “Mike”—and to Kate McKinnon as “Jandice”, Ghantt’s fiancé. Her ever-present fake smile, not to mention her timing, is spot-on funny, and Sudeikis plays ‘creepy killer’ with the right amount of snark and ineptitude.

The only special feature you get is kinda the only one you need. In a fifteen-minute documentary-type segment, you hear from FBI agents and the real-life Ghantt, with scenes from the film cut in to add to the actual events being described by the people that lived it all. It is instructional in showing you where Hollywood takes a story and does its thang to make for better entertainment, and seeing Ghantt is fun unto itself—it will give you a better appreciation for what Zach does with the role.

But I kinda left the biggest “stop playing against stereotype” surprise for last: this film is directed by Jared Hess. Hess was also the director of two movies I found to be quite horrible: NAPOLEON DYNAMITE and NACHO LIBRE. Glad you broke the mold, Mr. Hess.

Grade: B

Special Features: B

Blu-ray Necessary: Recommended

-- T.S. Kummelman