Matt Damon and Casey Affleck appeared together in a series of movies early in their careers – Good Will Hunting, the Ocean’s trilogy, the little-seen Gerry – but aside from their separate appearances in the Christopher Nolan films Interstellar and Oppenheimer, they haven’t truly teamed up since 2007. They’re back with the interesting-but-odd crime film, The Instigators.

Damon plays Rory, a former Marine who’s down on his luck and in therapy with a military psychiatrist, Dr. Donna Rivera (Hong Chau). Affleck is Cobby, a ne’er-do-well with a criminal history who can’t even stay on the good side of Mr. Kelly (Andre De Shields), his neighborhood bartender. The two are pulled in by Mr. Besegai (Michael Stuhlbarg) to help in what is supposed to be an easy robbery of a political fundraiser for Boston’s Mayor Micelli (Ron Perlman).

Naturally, things don’t go exactly as planned, and the two are soon on the run from not only the police, but also Frank Toomey (Ving Rhames), a feared fixer, and Besegai and his right-hand man, Richie Dechico (Alfred Molina). Despite not knowing each other very well, the unwitting duo do their best to protect each other, get away with at least some money, and possibly expose political corruption along the way.

Directed by Doug Liman and written by Affleck and Chuck Maclean, the film epitomizes the philosophy of throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks. There is very little attempt to establish Rory or Cobby as three-dimensional characters, giving them each some bare minimum traits without going into depth on any of them. The crime they’re asked to commit also doesn’t make much sense, and even the characters call out the flaws in the plan before they start.

Throughout it all, the filmmakers can’t seem to decide what kind of movie they want to make. Despite some humorous banter and situations, it’s not a comedy, and even though there is some gunplay and car chases, it’s also not an action thriller. It winds up being a weird mish-mash between the two that’s solely buoyed by the performances of Damon and Affleck, who sell everything they’re asked to do, even if it’s nonsensical.

Even more odd is the wealth of good actors in the film that don’t have good parts. Stuhlbarg, Molina, Chau, Perlman, De Shields, Toby Jones, and Paul Walter Hauser all lend their abilities to roles that don’t measure up to their skills, almost like they were cast first and told who they’d be playing later. That also seems to fit the title, which has no meaning other than being part of the first line of Thunderclap Newman’s “Something in the Air,” which is played at the end of the movie seemingly only to make sure the title has some connection to the film.

With both Damon and Affleck heavily involved behind-the-scenes – Damon as producer, Affleck as co-writer – there seems to have been a disconnect between the performances they put on and the result of the film. The two are engaging, both individually and as a team, but the film they put together around themselves doesn’t match what they’re doing on screen. Each has shown themselves capable of making coherent films before, so it’s hard to know what went wrong here.

The Instigators has the hallmarks of a film that should not only work, but also be a hit. But it somehow manages to waste more talent than most films dare to dream of, delivering a story that meanders around Boston while staying stuck in first gear the entire time.

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The Instigators is playing in select theaters and streaming on Apple TV+.