Doug Liman’s sophomore outing of this year, which is also coincidentally an exclusive streaming release like “Road House,” is a heist movie falling squarely in the genre of “heists organized by incompetents or buffoons,” or crime dramas where the protagonists are moderately self-centered but are more inclined to goof around than get any work done.
If one examines the genre of crime movies, arguably, the comedy is mined from these characters either being bad at their jobs or stuck in impossible situations. “The Instigators chooses to follow the former, as do the movies listed below. This is a recommendation list and not a ranking of any of the movies. It is rather a list compiling a couple of movies that share similarities with Doug Liman’s “The Instigators.”
7. 2 Guns (2013)
If you enjoyed The Instigators and its mix of high-stakes heists, unlikely partnerships, and constant twists, then 2 Guns is definitely worth a watch. Like The Instigators, 2 Guns follows two mismatched characters—Bobby and Stig—who are thrown into a dangerous world of crime and deception. Both movies have a similar blend of action and humor, with the characters finding themselves in way over their heads. In 2 Guns, Bobby and Stig are undercover agents working together to steal what they think is a small fortune, only to uncover a much bigger conspiracy. The chemistry between Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg really shines, and their witty banter brings a fun dynamic to the intense situations they face—much like the character interactions in The Instigators. If you liked the fast-paced, unpredictable nature of The Instigators, 2 Guns offers a similar mix of thrilling action and clever twists.
6. Ocean’s Twelve (2004)
The second film in the Ocean’s trilogy, directed by Steven Soderbergh, takes a spot on this list because of its rather free-flowing nature as a movie. Arguably hearkening back to the gorgeous jet-setting European crime dramas, one can argue that this movie doesn’t feature many incompetent characters but rather incomprehensible and ludicrous situations caused by characters acting impulsively.
In a way, the fact that this movie is actually more of a hangout movie kind of makes this the most faithful adaptation of the original Ocean’s 11. It does have a spot on this list because it shares two of the primary cast members in this memorable ensemble, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, and the Ocean’s trilogy is, by default, the modern-day blueprint of heist movies, be they serious or comedic.
5. Masterminds (2016)
One of the more baffling anecdotes about this film is that it is based on a true story rather than being an SNL skit adapted for the big screen. Though one might be forgiven for having mistaken this film for one, considering the cast involved, the bafflement allows for a degree of enjoyment in watching the utter incompetence of all the characters in the film involved in the armored car heist, especially Zach Galifianakis’ portrayal of car driver David Ghantt.
The movie, though, does have its fair share of issues because of its proclivity to pause the plot for the comedians to improvise, banter, and expand on a bit. It manages to derail a moderately engaging heist comedy that, however, sustains on its premise: buffoonery prevalent not just with the perpetrators but even the investigators, a trait shared by the characters in “The Instigators.”
4. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Guy Ritchie’s first crime comedy film follows a group of friends who find themselves in over their heads when they lose a poker match and are unwillingly part of a scam. To pay off that big debt, the four friends plan to rob a gang operating out of a flat next door, and once that occurs, all hell breaks loose. Amidst the first-time directorial flourishes that Ritchie brings in spades, this integrates the British dry humor with the bizarre, leading to moments of outright hilarity complemented by the high-contrast sepia-toned cinematography and memorable performances.
But amidst that all, what connects the film together is the knuckle-headed banter and friendship between the central four blokes, a similar form of relationship shared between the two thieves in “The Instigators.” Arguably like “Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” the characters in “The Instigators” too find themselves way over their heads after having to take part in a heist due to extenuating circumstances, though “The Instigators” never quite reach the farcical violent slapstick that “Lock Stock” aims for and always hits.
3. The Nice Guys (2016)
Less a spiritual sequel to “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” and more of an expansion and reinforcement of a winning formula, “The Nice Guys” brings forth writer-director Shane Black’s strengths, all boiling to the surface like a fiery cauldron. The film follows a private eye and a private enforcer in the search for a missing teenage girl in 1977 Los Angeles. While the neo-noir convolution and red herring have their own share of comedy as they work as a commentary, as well as a comparison of that era’s being caught under capitalism’s tendrils, the chief attractions of “The Nice Guys” are the central characters, especially the mildly idiotic private eye and the taciturn and world-weary enforcer.
It’s in the reactions to the events and dilemma they find themselves in, be it at gunpoint with March’s (Ryan Gosling) searching for Healy’s (Russell Crowe) ankle gun or March’s averse reactions to being hurt—those comprise some of the numerous rewatchable moments of “The Nice Guys’ that catapult this movie. As a movie with a similar tonality to “The Instigators” due to the humorous banter between two characters having wildly different energies, “The Nice Guys” earns a spot on the list, even though it doesn’t operate under the heist genre.
2. The Ladykillers (1955)
One of the notable Ealing comedies from the famed Ealing Studios, “The Ladykillers,” follows five oddball criminals planning a bank robbery who would rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow, claiming that they were classical musicians. Their plan, already on shaky ground, threatens to fall apart at every moment as they find themselves unable to avoid or kill the old widow. It is a “comedy of manners”—in the most literal meaning of that phrase—colliding lopsidedly with a heist movie, orchestrated by a group of crooks whose only weakness is the British proclivity to engage in proper manners—and failing to kill an old octogenarian.
The criminals, too, are stuck in a limbo—ostensibly operated under a foolproof plan orchestrated by a clever mastermind—but also stuck acknowledging the old woman’s whims and forced to goof around and flail by their own incompetence. It is a fascinating balancing act, and while I would be lying if I said every aspect worked, the comedy always carried that dry British wit that cumulatively gives rise to an almost bizarre tonality, especially considering the conceit of the premise. It also helps that the performances are almost universally memorable and thus chuckle-worthy, truly giving rise to the genre of “heists being upended by incompetent thieves,” like “The Instigators.”.
1. Logan Lucky (2017)
Perhaps it is fate that Soderbergh bookends the list, with both of his movies serving as influences in the heist genre and, to an extent, in “The Instigators.” While “Ocean’s Twelve” shares the central cast and a bit of the style, “Logan Lucky” shares the brunt of the inspiration. This is a movie occupying a curious spot in the Soderbergh canon. Simultaneously divisive and yet memorable in its execution, it carries a similarly stylish and yet different raucous energy, which gives it the moniker “Ocean’s Seven-Eleven.” In its execution of the heist without any of the glamour, and in his own words, utilizing “rubber-tube technology,” Soderbergh somehow brings forth the working-class hustle and bustle to full focus, even as his intention is to always provide an inverted and yet fully functional heist genre.
“Logan Lucky” also feels Soderbergh’s calibration is not yet becoming so efficient that it gets in the way of storytelling or giving his characters any form of depth, a criticism that could be afforded to “No Sudden Move,” a film so expertly made it almost lacks a soul. Like “The Instigators” and most of Soderbergh’s filmography related to heists, the central characters are the oddball characters, with an especially memorable turn by Daniel Craig as the idiosyncratic safe cracker Joe Bang. It is a rather underrated turn by Soderbergh, the man crafting the anti-Ocean trilogy for all to see.
