The Instigators isn’t bad enough to be good

Published August 16, 2024 5:05am ET



Here’s my synopsis for The Instigators, Apple TV+’s messy straight-to-streamer led by Matt Damon and Casey Affleck: After botching an election-night robbery, two dim-but-affable Boston bros (and one of their shrinks) outrun the police as they bicker like they’re in couples therapy. It’s a heist movie on a psychiatrist’s couch. It’s a parody of a heist movie set in Boston. It’s an action-comedy that wants to be a blockbuster that parodies heist movies. 

Whatever this movie is going for, it’s wobbly, and the rivets are popping off as it tries to hold everything together. 

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