Recess reviews: 'Masterminds'

If the intention of directing is to leave a unique fingerprint on a film, then director Jared Hess’s mark would be unmistakable: tonally deadpan, visually drab and awkward in every sense of the word. In terms of his past work, “Napoleon Dynamite” was painted in hues of brown and yellow, “Gentlemen Broncos” thrived on socially inept and dimwitted characters and “Nacho Libre” felt at home with daft subject material. So why is it that his most recent film, “Masterminds,” feels like a juvenile attempt at comedy when it had all of the artistic underpinnings that make Hess’s films so humorously sound?

In terms of its storyline, “Masterminds” is a goldmine for comedy – both figuratively and literally. Based on a real-life cash robbery that occurred in 1997, the film follows David Ghantt (played by Zach Galifianakis), an optimistic idiot with a hairstyle that would make any ‘90s mom jealous, as he steals $17.3 million from his employer, Loomis, Fargo & Co. Ghantt is duped into being the patsy for the robbery by his former coworker Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig), whom he is woefully enamored with and eager to impress. The entire scheme is spearheaded by Campbell’s ne’er-do-well pal Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson), who convinces Ghantt to bear the brunt of the robbery and flee to Mexico with minimal cash while he and his partners become sudden millionaires.

With a premise that is already so bizarre on its own, each embellishment that Hess contributed to the story seems misplaced when considering real-life details that he failed to capitalize on. One of the most intriguing parts of the “Hillbilly Heist,” as it was aptly dubbed by the real-life media in 1997, was Chambers’s overzealous spending and newfound social mobility. His family’s move from a trailer park to a gated community after the robbery was minimally explored, wasting the opportunity to showcase a “Beverly Hillbillies”-style dichotomy between the uppity, Ralph Lauren-clad residents and their gaudy new neighbors. Not to mention the fact that Chambers’s wife, Michelle, genuinely asked a bank teller, “How much can I deposit before you have to report it to the feds?” — a line disappointingly missing from the movie.

Conversely, “Masterminds” seems to thrive when it harkens back to the visual gags that made Hess’s previous films, namely "Napoleon Dynamite," so authentically funny. There’s a scene in which Ghantt and his fiancé, Jandice (Kate McKinnon), have engagement photos taken — set to Enya’s "Only Time," both characters dressed to the nines in their best pair of mom jeans — that relishes in the visual awkwardness of the couple without forcing the joke.

Similarly, one of the better gags of the film occurs when Chambers and his wife decide to get braces after acquiring the stolen money, which is brilliantly uncommented upon for the remaining duration of the movie. It’s a visual that so clearly defines ‘trailer park royalty’ that it needs no explaining.

It’s unfortunate, then, that Hess relied more on gross-out visuals to round out many of the jokes in his most recent film. Shticks such as Ghantt having diarrhea in a pool, shooting himself in the butt and eating a dead tarantula as it oozes all over his chin are easy, dumb jokes to make. Perhaps it’s unfair to expect a sophisticated caliber of humor from a cast that includes Galifianakis, but like Hess, he’s performed understated, deadpan comedy many times before — and done it well.

Maybe “Masterminds” and its director felt the pressure to succumb to the current tone of the comedy genre. With recent releases such as “Central Intelligence” and “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates,” comedy in Hollywood has seemingly been watered down to an easily understandable, low-brow mess of physical gags and crass jokes. But it’s an approach that sells tickets and increases profits, making wit and originality hard to come by in comedic films.

“Masterminds” had the potential to be Hess’s equivalent of the Coen Brothers’ “Raising Arizona,” a hillbilly heist that embraces its Southern charm and loves its buffoonish characters for who they are. Instead, it seems as though the film was more determined to make fun of its colorful cast of characters and their tale of thievery than celebrate them, creating a disingenuous take on a vibrant story. Hess’s fingerprint undoubtedly pressed itself into the grooves of “Masterminds,” from the aesthetic choices to the subject material, but it’s apparent that it was smeared and distorted somewhere along the way.