Mentes maestras

Despite a set of tremendous comedic actors, 'Masterminds' isn't half as funny as it ought to have been. It has some moments, but they aren't enough to pass this delayed release as a winner.

'Masterminds' Synopsis: A guard at an armored car company in the Southern U.S. organizes one of the biggest bank heists in American history. Based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery.

'Masterminds' tries to adapt a crazy true-story into a much crazier film. Sadly, it only engages in bits. I enjoyed the sub-plot of the hero & his crazy girlfriend (Zach Galifianakis & Kate McKinnon), but the main plot doesn't bring out the best laughs. Also, the jokes are too crass & get silly after a point. Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer & Emily Spivey's Screenplay is alright. Its only sporadically funny. Jared Hess's Direction is just passable.

Performance-Wise: 'Masterminds' rests on the madness of its cast. Zach Galifianakis can be dumb & funny more than anyone else can right now & hence, he's spot-on. Kristen Wiig is irresistible, even though she doesn't much scope. Owen Wilson is okay. Jason Sudeikis is absurd, yet entertaining. Leslie Jones hams. Kate McKinnon is fantastic as Zach's crazy girlfriend & she, completely steals the show.

On the whole, 'Masterminds' isn't funny enough. Nonetheless, watch it if you must!

Jared Hess (the director) is someone who doesn't believe in the usual comedic mould.

His vision of comedy is obscure in that he doesn't want us to laugh at the obvious slapstick.

He wants us to cringe a little at the truth behind his laughs.

While it's true that in the end comedies need to make us guffaw, chuckle, snicker, titter and chortle; the real art of comedy is to make us feel the pain of our protagonist.

I think in this regard, Jared Hess has achieved something rare.

A comedic protagonist who is very real and flawed and sad.

His sadness makes us laugh because of how bleak his existence is.

We feel for him and wish him all the best. I feel that people who don't get this movie are afraid of humanness in others.

That's why people are idiots. Because they see comedies as an excuse to simply laugh mindlessly at absurd plot lines. Comedies are also commentaries on the human condition. In spite of being marketed as slapstick, Masterminds is a film about a fragile soul in a dangerous world. Since making such a film a drama would turn away crowds in droves, the film maker re-framed it as something of a tragic comedy.

My heart felt for this hero who is at once self-deluded and incredibly sensitive.

If you have ever understood unconditional love, you might find something to love in Masterminds too.

I watched this not knowing what to expect and found myself laughing a lot and enjoying it thoroughly. I was surprised to see that it was not better received (not too surprised though, as it seems only the most popular movies get any positive reviews and there tends to be a bandwagon effect).

Based on true story of one of the largest cash heists in history, it follows the crazy story of its perpetrators and their attempts to avoid being caught.

Zach Galifianakis and other cast members are hilarious. The makers of the film obviously took pains to add little details to every scene that really add to the comedy. In the beginning, for example, there is a scene of awkwardfamilyphotos.com style engagement photos that is so great. Plot twists as the film progressed to its conclusion kept the story interesting. There were some parts that were hard to buy, but it was a comedy after all. It's on Netflix currently.

First of all, I just can't believe that this movie was based on a true story. It left me captivated to a point of going back to do research on the real story. I wanted to see pictures of these people in person. I just had to laugh while reading some of it.

After doing research on the real story, I found the movie to be very balanced in that it tried to find a humorous way to tell the story. I think that they actually pulled it off. Was it laugh out loud comedy? No...but entertaining, Certainly. It isn't something that I'd ever watch again, but I didn't feel as if it were a complete and total waste of time. There were a few funny moments and in some moments, I even felt sorry for the main character. It will definitely hold your interest. Worth a movie rental.

"My name is David Ghantt. I always felt I was destined for a life of adventure. It didn't quite pan out that way. Then one day I met Miss Kelly Campbell." David Ghantt (Galifianakis) works for an armored car company, is engaged to be married and is loving life. He starts to develop a little crush on his co-worker Kelly (Wiig) which results in an opportunity for one of Kelly's friends. David becomes involved in one of the biggest bank heists in US history, with no clue of what he is actually involved in. First of all I have to say that this movie was decent and I laughed a few times, but I was very disappointed. I watched Keeping Up With The Joneses which I thought was very funny, and this one was not nearly as good. The one huge saving grace of this movie was Jason Sudeikis. He saved this movie pretty much by himself. I would watch an entire movie based on that character. The rest of the movie felt a little flat and uninspired and the only thing that really kept me interested, besides Sudeikis, was that it was based on a true story and I wanted to see what actually happened. Overall, funny in parts but really disappointing and I'm glad I waited to rent this rather than go to the theatre for it. I give this a C+.