Have you ever wondered what happens to movies that seem to fall through the cracks?
Like those productions greenlightedby a studio’s previous regime and then put on the back burner?
Many of those titles end up going direct to video—or worse.
And then we’ve got MASTERMINDS, a slapstick comedy about a hairbrained armored truck heist. An inside job based on real events no less.
As the story goes Zach Galifianakis plays a hapless driver conned into the scheme by his girl-crush—and former driver Kristen Wigg.
She’s backed by a band of redneck crooks led by Owen Wilson.
Of course there’s much more to the storyline here, but you get the drift.
So far. So good.
The movie was made in 2014 in North Carolina and its distributor (Relativity Studios) set its release for the summer of 2015 before rescheduling it for the fall of that year.
However the company’s financial struggles prevented a 2015 release altogether.
So now a year later MASTERMINDS finally sees the light of day.
Was the wait worth it?
Maybe for fans of the film’s all-star comedy cast which also includes Leslie Jones, Jason Sudeikis and Kate McKinnen (who incidentally steals the show).
It’s also interesting to note that in this day and age where just about anything goes, this Lorne Michaels co-produced comedy is CLEAN and raunch-free!
We’re talking PG-13 slapstick here counting on old school schtick to produce a handful of often tired laughs.
But that’s about all that can be said of the seemingly dated-feel of this Stooges-like adventure.
One other observation.
Isn’t it interesting that Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnen and Leslie Jones all found themselves in the GHOSTBUSTERS reboot which was actually filmed after MASTERMINDS…….
Thankfully this get stupid rich tale plays out in just 95 minutes of screen time.
MASTERMINDS opens citywide to a grade of: C.
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