MASTERMINDS – Rated PG-13

MASTERMINDS – Rated PG-13

94 Mins.

Starring Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis, Kate McKinnon, Owen Wilson and Leslie Jones

From the man who brought us such quirky and hilarious films as NAPOLEAN DYNAMITE and NACHO LIBRE ~ Jared Hess ~ comes the armored car heist of the century, with all it’s real-life CRAZINESS this time around too…welcome to MASTERMINDS!!!

Stuck in his mundane job as an armored car driver, we meet the sweet and naive David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis), and his scarily weird fiancé Jandice (Kate McKinnon), in the midst of the most bizarre photo shoot like EVER!

Not really sure if Jandice is the girl for him, David starts a flirtation with co-worker and super-cute-hottie Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig), dreaming of their lives together, maybe, someday…

When Kelly’s friend Steve (Owen Wilson) decides that he’s tired of being poor, and that pulling off an armored car heist can make all his dreams come true, he forces Kelly to enlist the services of her friend David, to help them pull this heist off.

Bound and determined to help Kelly anyway he can, so that she will decide that he is definitely the guy for her, David performs one of the biggest heists in US History…and heads off to Mexico to wait for his girl.

Back in the states, it seems that everyone here is living high on the hog with the 17 million they have just acquired…and now it seems back-stabber Steve has hired assassin Mike McKinney (Jason Sudeikis) to quiet David from squealing his name, so he can continue to live in this life of luxury, for as long as he can…

I give MASTERMINDS a rating between MUST SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN and WAIT AND CATCH THIS ONE ON DVD: Galifianakis is funny, Sudeikis is too, and Wiig brings her cuteness and funniness along for this white-trash of a joy ride too. But, sadly, Wilson gives us the same a-hole of a character that we get from him most of the time, and McKinnon wasn’t given enough material to leave her mark at all this time around. Is MASTERMINDS funny at times? YES. Is it rip-roaringly funny? NO. Are these characters as quirky and outrageous the whole way through as you expect from the trailer? YES. Are these performances so good, that you drawn into loving each of them by the end of the movie? ABSOLUTELY NOT! And, the most astounding thing for me with this film, is that you think there is no way that this could be A TRUE STORY, as these characters and all their issues must have had to be scripted. But, in reality, this is a true-story filled with too many misfits in life to count, that all manage to meet one another, feed off of one another’s quirks, and thrive to see all this craziness through, one ridiculous move at a time…bringing me to suggest if you love these comedians like I do, you may want to take in MASTERMINDS at a theater near you, but, if you are thinking this is going to be a HILARIOUSLY FUNNY FILM since they are all involved, IT’s NOT – so you may want to wait and catch this one in the comfort of your very own home…so your not too disappointed when it’s all said and done 😉

Kathy Kaiser