Review: Matt Damon and Casey Affleck play half-smart criminals in overfamiliar ‘The Instigators’

Moviegoers and critics often say that what they want more from films is originality. In a sense, a superb subpar film is similar to pulling off a heist — a minor crime, perhaps, but one that’s better executed than the bungled robbery at the center of “The Instigators,” a shaggy action-comedy almost good enough to forgive its shopworn elements. Never smug or cynical while going through the motions, Damon and Affleck,who previously co-starred in a very different picture about male futility, Gus Van Sant’s minimalist stunner “Gerry,” slip into their amusingly one-dimensional roles. And because “The Instigators” is ultimately a feel-good comedy, we’ll learn that Cobby isn’t quite the hardened criminal we’re initially led to believe he is. But if “The Instigators” isn’t peddling originality, the least it could do is justify its own existence by delivering a delightful bauble that reaffirms our affection for these stars and this milieu.