The Instigators

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2:21

The Instigators

R

Released Aug 2

1h 41m

Action

Comedy

Crime

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

40%

Tomatometer

156 Reviews

54%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

Rory (Matt Damon) and Cobby (Casey Affleck) are reluctant partners: a desperate father and an ex-con thrown together to rob a corrupt politician's ill-gained earnings. But when the heist goes wrong, the two find themselves engulfed in a whirlwind of chaos, pursued not only by police but also by backward bureaucrats and vengeful crime bosses. Completely out of their depth, they convince Rory's therapist (Hong Chau) to join their riotous getaway through the city, where they must put aside their differences and work together to evade capture -- or worse.

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Critics Consensus

The alchemy of Casey Affleck and Matt Damon's knucklehead rapport provides some charm, but this laidback caper unravels due to a lack of intrigue and pulse.

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Robert Levin

Newsday

No matter how much heft the Actors Equity team brings to the project on both sides of the camera, there's simply no evading the fact that the movie plays as so inconsequential, so free of meaning and purpose, that it offers nothing to grab onto.

Rated: 2.5/4

Aug 13, 2024

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Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

It should be pulpy fun powered by car chases and zippy repartee, but The Instigators is a dispiriting and predictable drag of a movie.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 12, 2024

Full Review

Barry Hertz

Globe and Mail

Certainly, all the ingredients are here for a fun night in, from the absolutely killer cast to the familiar Damon/Affleck stomping grounds of Boston. But nothing quite clicks in this tale of charming low-life thieves.

Aug 12, 2024

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Cory Woodroof

For the Win (USA Today)

This is like if The Departed was an airplane movie, and that’s fine with me. We don’t get a lot of these.

Nov 27, 2024

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Pete Vonder Haar

Houston Press

It's fun to see Damon play an idiot (even if the "taking notes at a criminal conspiracy" line was ripped off from The Wire), but Chau is the only factor making this even a mild recommend.

Rated: 2.5/5

Nov 20, 2024

Full Review

Erik Childress

Movie Madness Podcast

It is hard to watch Matt Damon play so dumb next to Casey Affleck’s sleepy comic mannerisms in an overly plotted but thinly scripted heist film crossed with political corruption that is part of the definition of this era’s direct-to-streaming content.

Rated: 2/4

Oct 28, 2024

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Yusuf N

Casey Affleck is a gem and his deadpan lines were just delightfully droll!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/10/24

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dsh

Plot was ridiculous and implausible, script was terrible and the language was foul - constant f-bombs.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/04/24

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JimPalmer

It was interesting but its language was distracting and unnecessary. Have to wonder if the actors children are allowed to see this movie. No need for sentences of profanity.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/04/24

Full Review

Audience Member

The story is so stupid. nothing believable nothing ,absolutely nothing. I used to love Doug Liman movies (Mr. Smith, Jumper, Edge Of) but lately he's doing streaming only (max, prime, apple) and the quality drops so hard.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

12/18/24

Full Review

Mate P

The Instigators is a very weird movie in the sense that the writing is sometimes terrible, sometimes great. The dialogues are incredibly funny at times, but in other cases they are genuinely terrible. The main characters are not bad, their arcs are predictable, but complete and satisfying. The supporting characters are very uninteresting and forgettable with the exception of Frank Toomey. The cinematography is also very weird. The move looks great sometimes, most of the action scenes are great, but sometimes they just used the wrong lens or angle. The editing is probably the worst part. The film is 100 minutes long and it's boring. The direction wasn't great, I love Doug Liman, but he didn't manage to make a fine movie out of this. The Instigators can be a fun watch, but it's a pretty weak movie.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

12/14/24

Full Review

Steven t

I thought this was a very fun movie with many great actors.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/03/24

Full Review

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Doug Liman

Director

Matt Damon

Rory

Casey Affleck

Cobby

Hong Chau

Actor

Michael Stuhlbarg

Actor

Paul Walter Hauser

Actor

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The Instigators: Exclusive Movie Clip - Car Chase

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The Instigators: Trailer 1

2:21

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Synopsis

Rory (Matt Damon) and Cobby (Casey Affleck) are reluctant partners: a desperate father and an ex-con thrown together to rob a corrupt politician's ill-gained earnings. But when the heist goes wrong, the two find themselves engulfed in a whirlwind of chaos, pursued not only by police but also by backward bureaucrats and vengeful crime bosses. Completely out of their depth, they convince Rory's therapist (Hong Chau) to join their riotous getaway through the city, where they must put aside their differences and work together to evade capture -- or worse.

Director: Doug Liman
Producer: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jeff Robinov, John Graham, Kevin J. Walsh
Screenwriter: Chuck MacLean
Distributor: Apple TV+
Production Co: Apple TV+, The Walsh Company, Apple Original Films, Studio 8, Artists Equity, Apple Studios
Rating: R (Some Violence|Pervasive Language)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 2, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 9, 2024
Runtime: 1h 41m

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