Masterminds

Having sat on the shelf for a few years while the film changed distributors, the Zach Galifianakis-led comedy "Masterminds" is finally hitting theaters with what will most likely be a dull thud.

Based on a true story, the film by Jared Hess ("Napoleon Dynamite") is an over-the-top take on something that was ridiculous on its own terms. Adding in terrific comedic actors and having them overplay every moment makes the film unbelievable, eye-rolling, and just plain not funny. Which is sad because the cast is fantastic.

Oddly enough, while having been filmed a few years back, it stars three of the ladies from the reboot of "Ghostbusters" -- Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. The rest of the impressive cast includes Owen Wilson, Jason Sudekis, and Ken Marino. But all are wasted in a confusing film whose tone varies and whose slapstick antics don't deliver.

The plot concerns a real-life heist of $17 million dollars carried out by David Ghant (Galifianakis), an armored truck driver who is coerced by his work crush Kelly Campbell (Wiig) to steal the money and divide it among themselves. Also pressuring him are Kelly's long-time friends, who came up with the plan in the first place. The problem is that thief Steve Chambers (Wilson) -- the mastermind of the plot -- doesn't intend on ever giving Ghant his share of the money, and plans on leaving him trapped in Mexico.

The problems keep coming when the money gets the better of Chambers, and soon he and his wife and kids have set up house in a ritzy neighborhood and can't stop spending money on ridiculous things. This draws the attention of the FBI (Jones), who knows that Ghant is responsible but can't locate him. When Chambers realizes he might be questioned, he puts a hit out on Ghant, who -- as clueless a character as he started out to be -- ends up finding the strength in himself to survive and bring those down that betrayed him.

The problems arise in the fact that these things happened but they are played so campy that you start to wonder what bits are true and what aren't. This almost needed the steady hand of the Coen Bros. so we could see the ridiculousness of real people instead of seeing just really ridiculous people.

There are some interesting performances here. Wiig shows both her comedic and genuine side, which is where the tonal problems come in. McKinnon is doing some sort of weird schtick -- I'm unclear as to what it is. Galifianakis is great, but he plays such a nincompoop you just don't know why you are watching him act like a moron for an hour and a half.

The filmmakers might have had real-life masterminds on their minds, but they forgot how to master a tone that could have engaged the mind as well as the funny-bone.