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The Instigators sees Rory (Matt Damon – Drive-Away Dolls) having family and fiduciary issues, and feels like he’s at the end of his rope with life, and needs a big change.
Meanwhile, Cobby (Casey Affleck) has just come out from jail, and is a slacker who uses a local boy to bypass the alcohol detector on his motorbike.
However, with Boston about to vote for a new Mayor – and Miccelli (Ron Perlman – Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts) tipped to win again, given how he’s incredibly corrupt – they’re just two of a team who are hired by Mr. Besegai (Michael Stuhlbarg – The Staircase) and Richie Dechico (Alfred Molina – Spider-Man: No Way Home More Fun Stuff Version) to heist the cash that’ll be splashed around the bent Mayor’s shindig and coronation.
But while Cobby is used to this sort of thing, Rory’s brand new, but he needs the cash, and it’ll be a one-time thing for him.
The Instigators comes across like a comedy crime caper with the Marx Brothers on the job, given how inept they are, and there’s a ton of comic asides in the script between the cast members – all with very dry humour, generally giving the feeling that they can’t stand each other, and can’t wait for this business to be over and done.
You just know things won’t go to plan, but how badly? And will they get away with it? After all, in the trailer, Rory bemoans how everyone in New England is after them.
Overall, The Instigators is a fun ride – including Damon’s co-star from the brilliant Downsizing, Hong Chau, as his therapist Dr. Donna Rivera, and a car chase set to Petula Clark’s Downtown – but it does get rather, increasingly ridiculous, the more it goes on, even though it does give memorable screentime to the majority of the key talent in the movie.
The Instigators is on Apple TV+ from Friday August 9th, but is also in some US cinemsa from Friday August 2nd. It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 101 minutes
Release date: August 9th 2024 (Apple TV); August 2nd 2024 (some US cinemas)
Studio: Apple TV+
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Rating: 7/10
Director: Doug Liman
Producers: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, John Graham, Jeff Robinov, Kevin Walsh, Alison Winter
Screenplay: Chuck MacLean, Casey Affleck
Music: Christophe Beck
Cast:
Rory: Matt Damon
Dr. Donna Rivera: Hong Chau
Cobby: Casey Affleck
Scalvo: Jack Harlow
Mr. Besegai: Michael Stuhlbarg
Richie Dechico: Alfred Molina
Charlie Haggerty: Owen Earls
Mrs. Haggerty: Natalie Carter
Terry: Walter Terry Liebman
Mr. Kelly: André De Shields
Mayor Miccelli: Ron Perlman
Rob Gronkowski: Rob Gronkowski
Attorney Alan Flynn: Toby Jones
Dave Wedge: Slate Holmgren
Mark Choi: Ronnie Cho
John Wayne: Toby Onwumere
Booch: Paul Walter Hauser
Colani: Scout Backus
Frank Toomey: Ving Rhames (uncredited)
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.