Mystery Team (2009)

User Rating:

8.6/10   

Director:

Dan Eckman

Writers:

D.C. Pierson (screenplay) and
Donald Glover (screenplay) ...

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

One big case. Zero clue.

Plot:

A group of former Encyclopedia Brown-style child-detectives struggle to solve an adult mystery. |

Cast

Donald Glover	...	Jason
D.C. Pierson	...	Duncan
Dominic Dierkes	...	Charlie
Aubrey Plaza	...	Kelly
Matt Walsh	...	Jim
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kevin Brown	...	Bouncer
Gregory Burke	...	Football Player
Kay Cannon	...	Destiny
Neil Casey	...	Broken Man
Lillian Chandler	...	Mrs. Kimmel
Daphne Ciccarelle	...	Brianna
Jonathan C. Daly	...	Greg (as Jon Daly)
Dan Eckman	...	Bread Squeezer
George Eckman	...	Old Man McGinty
Cheryl Freeman	...	Mrs. Rogers
Will Hines	...	Mr. Stevens
Heidi May Johnson	...	Robert's Wife
Glenn Kalison	...	Robert
Ellie Kemper	...	Jamie
Anthony King	...	Office Worker
Kristopher Kling	...	Sam
John Kneeland	...	Officer Mills
John Lutz	...	Frank
Meggie McFadden	...	Cathy
Bobby Moynihan	...	Jordy
Nick Packard	...	Dougie
Ben Rodgers	...	Caleb
Peter Saati	...	Leroy
Xavier Salazar	...	Eric
Calvin Santiago	...	Sad Kid
Ben Schwartz	...	Dougie's Buddy
John Sefel	...	Murphy
Tom Shillue	...	Alan McGinty
Ron Simons	...	Mr. Rogers
Steve Stout	...	Tyler
Robbie Sublett	...	Ricky Appleman

MPAA:

Rated R for crude sexual content, nudity, language and some drug material.

Runtime:

USA:105 min (Sundance Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45503)

Filming Locations:

Manchester, New Hampshire, USA

Company:

Derrick Comedy Productions

Quotes:

[from trailer]
Kelly: [holding a ring] Where did you find this?
Jason: It's a... long story.
Charlie: No it's not. A stripper peed it into a toilet.

Movie Connections:

References American Pie (1999)

I laughed a lot

Went into this film with zero knowledge of DERRICK comedy (the name reminds me of a famous German TV detective series) or the movie. Well, I must say I laughed more during this film than any other comedy I've seen this year. The dialog and deadpan delivery coupled with a truly clever script result in some genuine hilarity.

For the uninitiated, like myself, the following might help you decide whether this is something you'd like to watch. The film centers around three young (high school senior) "detectives" who've been solving various mysteries (disappearing kitty, stolen lunch, etc.) for a dime a pop throughout their childhood, when they are suddenly thrust into the midst of an honest to goodness real crime investigation. The plot is motivated by a basic fish out of water storyline, whereupon the three chaps stumble around in the adult world mostly unaware of what is going on around them, which makes for some genuinely funny situations.

The lead actors are affable and quickly pull the audience to their side. Unfortunately the supporting cast provides uneven performances, and the entire movie has a "homemade" feel to it. That doesn't begrudge the film's strengths though, carried by the three principals and the comic situations and dialog, which are presented and delivered perfectly. Considering the minimal budget with which they must have worked, one can look past the deficiencies.

I gave the movie 8 stars because I laughed an awful lot, and that's what a comedy is supposed to do, make one laugh. This also reminded me of the Broken Lizard comedy team and Super Troopers. Hopefully the DERRICK team will be able to sustain the momentum and keep making movies as funny as this one, with a better supporting cast and more sure handed direction, which could easily get them atop the current comedy heap.