Since the release of Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Thirteen in 2007, fans have been clamoring for a sequel to reunite that brilliant cast. While that doesn’t appear to be happening any time soon, the 2024 film slate has a couple of offerings that pair members from the iconic cast within the crime genre. Later this fall we will see George Clooney and Brad Pitt in Wolfs, but until then we’ve been gifted with Doug Liman’s latest picture, The Instigators, starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. The film follows the pair in a classic job-gone-wrong story as they attempt to rob the corrupt Boston mayor on the night of an election. 

The film’s success relies entirely on Damon and Affleck’s performances, and they don’t phone this one in. At some points, it feels like they are playing slightly altered versions of their characters from the Ocean’s films, which could be seen as either a feature or a bug. Their banter and growing relationship throughout the film work for the most part, making way for hilarious moments and a fun time. Outside of the two leads, The Instigators boasts one hell of a supporting cast. Ron Perlman, Hong Chau, Alfred Molina, Ving Rhames, Jack Harlow, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Toby Jones all get moments to shine. It’s exciting for such talented actors to come together for small roles and have fun making a movie like this.

Unfortunately, the film starts to fall apart once you look past Damon’s charm and Affleck’s witticisms. Liman’s direction is lackluster and leaves a lot to be desired. We’ve seen him make solid films on several different levels, from low-budget indies like Swingers to Tom Cruise star vehicles like Edge of Tomorrow and American Made. Evidence exists that he can infuse more of his own style or flare, but he winds up picking the most obvious, bland choices at every turn. The film needs more creative and inspired directive choices to help it stand out in the crime genre, and Liman isn’t up for the task. The script offers nothing unique or original in narrative structure or character development. Liman and the team relied heavily on the star power of Damon and Affleck to carry the narrative and hide its flaws. Additionally, the editing often seems odd and choppy which makes sense when you see an editing team of four people involved instead of one sole editor. 

On a positive note, the cinematography looks much better than a typical straight-to-streaming release. A good effort was put into the visuals compared to the house style and color grading certain streaming services put forth. The score from Christophe Beck is nothing out of the ordinary, but there’s a particular car chase featuring Petula Clark’s iconic “Downtown” that heightens the humor and chaos of the whole situation. 

Across the board, the cast and crew seem to have an incredible self-awareness of this movie. It’s a knowingly dumb crime comedy that understands its absurdity, which affords some forgiveness for the unoriginality of the story itself. The film is abundantly amusing, with a large part of the fun coming from it winking at itself. It’s a shame The Instigators did not get a wide theatrical release, as this kind of fun is best experienced with a crowd. Even the funniest moments can elicit muted responses from an audience of one. 

It’s also fascinating that a movie with high-profile actors like Matt Damon and Casey Affleck got sent straight to Apple TV+ instead of at least a week-long wide release. How did we get here? The film is nowhere near bad enough to be a streaming dump and would be more likely to receive a warmer reception if seen in a theater with others. We’ve seen this strategy play out a few times this year, namely Anne Hathaway’s The Idea of You releasing directly to Amazon and Doug Liman’s other 2024 release, Road House starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Even the other Ocean’s reunion Wolfs was recently announced to switch from a traditional theater release to a limited release and dump to streaming a week later. This strategy is increasingly frustrating partially because it doesn’t do justice to the hard work that was done on these projects, but also because of the inconsistency and fluidity of each release. A studio could change its mind on a release method up to a couple weeks before a film is set to come out and we can’t do much about it. 

Ultimately, the ensemble performance in The Instigators outshines any imperfections found in the story and filmmaking decisions. The film is a fun ride worth taking, representing a middle-of-the-road film featuring big-name movie stars that we don’t get too often in today’s landscape. 

Review Courtesy of Cameron K. Ritter

Image courtesy of Apple TV+