‘The Instigators’ review: Actors, director elevate so-so crime-comedy script

If you have a so-so screenplay, it doesn’t hurt to have talented people around to make the most of it.

Take, for instance, “The Instigators,” a buddy crime comedy that, after a limited theatrical rollout last week, lands this week on Apple TV+.

The movie is better than it has any right to be thanks largely to the chemistry of stars — and ol’ Boston pals — Matt Damon and Casey Affleck.

It’s better for the supporting work of talented Hong Chau and, to a lesser degree, by big-name bit players including Michael Stuhlbarg, Ving Rhames, Alfred Molina and Paul Walter Hauser.

Last but not least, “The Instigators” benefits — greatly — from having a well-above-average director in Doug Liman, who long ago directed Damon in “The Bourne Identity” and keeps this romp engaging and moving along to, well, let’s say an acceptable ending.

Set in Beantown, “The Instigators” first introduces us to Damon’s Rory, a former Marine who hasn’t seen much go right in his life, in a session with psychiatrist Dr. Donna Rivera (Chau). He won’t reveal much to his caring doctor but does mention that he’d had the thought of ending his life in a year if things didn’t turn around for him.

“And when did you come up with this plan?” she asks.

“It was about a year ago.”

Desperate to generate a little more than $32,000 to address a situation with his son, Rory meets with gangster Mr. Besegai (Stuhlbarg), who wants to rip off Boston Mayor Miccelli (Rob Perlman) on what surely will prove to be his re-election night. Long on the take, Miccelli is expected to be greeted with bags of cash at his waterfront victory party.

For the job, Rory has been recruited by unspectacular Besegai lieutenant Scalvo (rapper and singer Jack Harlow), as has Cobby (Affleck), an ex-con we meet using a neighborhood kid to pass the breathalyzer on his motorcycle so he can start it.

Rory’s quiet, primarily talking only when asking one of his many logistical questions, while Cobby is a chatterbox, commenting, sarcastically, on this, that and the other. Both men frustrate Besegai and Scalvo, the latter also being a constant irritation to the former.

What could go wrong with this operation?

Well, it should come as no surprise, plenty, and soon enough Rory and Cobby are on the run, both from criminals — such as Booch (Hauser), who works for Besegai associate Richie DeChico (Molina) — and the cops — namely Frank Toomey (Rhames), who has an off-the-books relationship with Miccelli and is turned loose by him after the lads swipe something they’ll come to learn is of great value.

Before long, Dr. Rivera is roped into the affair, more or less agreeing to be taken hostage by Rory to provide some medical care to Cobby. She then proceeds to try to re-engage with Rory as a counselor, which is witnessed with bewilderment — and genuine curiosity — by Cobby, who takes an interest in this highly intelligent woman.

Damon scores some laughs as the criminal newbie, but “Manchester by the Sea” star Affleck is more consistently funny cracking-wise, even as he does it at a relaxed pace that befits the actor’s talents.

While Damon is more connected to Affleck’s brother, Ben Affleck — and “The Instigators” is the second movie to be produced by Damon and Ben Affleck’s company, Artists Equity, following last year’s “Air,” which featured both actors — Damon and Casey Affleck have an obvious comfort with each other even if their characters don’t. (The latter appeared in 1997’s “Good Will Hunting,” which, of course, helped to establish Damon and Ben Affleck as stars.)

Rory and Cobby constantly annoy each other, a dynamic with the possibility of becoming annoying but doesn’t.

When you stir Dr. Rivera into the mix, Chau more or less serves the same purpose as Selena Gomez in the hit Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building,” where she shakes up the dynamic of longtime partners-in-comedy Steve Martin and Martin Short. Chau doesn’t fit neatly with Damon and Affleck, which is fun.

It’s too bad Chau — an Academy Award nominee for her work in 2022’s “The Whale” whose credits also include “Downsizing” (2017) and “The Menu” (2022) — isn’t in more scenes. She adds something to each she gets.

And she gets many more than Stuhlbarg (“A Serious Man”), Molina (“Chocolat”) and Hauser (“Richard Jewell”), each of whom lends his gifts to only a few minutes of “The Instigators.” We are especially left wanting more of the impactful Stuhlbarg, intimidatingly bearded, as a career criminal at his wits’ end.

Rhames (“Pulp Fiction”) has a bit more to do, but he, too, is underutilized.

The aforementioned screenplay is the work of Chuck MacLean (“City on a Hill”) and Casey Affleck, who’ve known each other for years. MacLean is said to have written an early draft years ago, the script changing significantly when Affleck joined him to work on it.

It sounds as if the story told in “The Instigators” continued to evolve through shooting, Liman encouraging the cast to offer ideas and improvisation during the filming. It certainly has that feel.

Liman, whose credits also include 2005’s “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and 2014’s excellent “Edge of Tomorrow,” also was at the helm for this year’s guilty-pleasure, straight-to-Prime Video remake of “Road House.” If something has a chance to work, he’ll make it work.

As fun as it is, “The Instigators” certainly isn’t all it could have been. But while it may be rough around the edges, without the people involved, it could have been downright rough.

‘The Instigators’

Where: Apple TV+.

When: Aug. 9.

Rated: R for pervasive language and some violence.

Runtime: 1 hour, 41 minutes.

Stars (of four): 2.5.