‘Masterminds’ Review: Zach Galifianakis Stars in Silly ‘Hillbilly Heist’ Comedy

“Napoleon Dynamite” director Jared Hess turns real-life fumbled felony into sweetly amusing cautionary tale of blind love

A disposable pawn in a ridiculous scheme that included several other inexperienced players — an event that would become known locally as “the hillbilly heist” — Ghantt took a portion of the money and fled to Mexico, trusting the others to cut him in later.

[...] the naive fall guy befriended a hit man his colleagues sent to kill him.

Here, Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis) is a simple, Strength Shoe-wearing man with a bell-shaped haircut, a job that bores him, a fiancée (Kate McKinnon) he dislikes, and a crush on co-worker Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig).

The eventual robbery is captured on a Loomis security camera, complete with a goofy victory dance by Ghantt (and yes, that really happened); an inept hitman (Jason Sudeikis) is hired to remove Ghantt from the equation; and the rest of the group blows its cover with extravagant, tacky spending sprees.

Enter a determined FBI agent (Leslie Jones, given not very much to do).

Movie-Ghantt is shown as dumber and more absurd than he probably is (though Real-Ghant’s consultant position on the film suggests that he’s fine with that), and, curiously, much more inclined to rob an armored car service for the sake of a woman than as a response to working class poverty.

The Worst Years of My Life, and Emily Spivey (“Saturday Night Live”) hews close to real-life incident, but it’s that near adherence to truth that forces the film to rely on grotesque characterizations and slapstick stunts for laughs.

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“Masterminds” is kinder to its characters than most comedies about the bumbling and under-educated, and that’s Hess’s strength.