Flypaper (2011)

A man caught in the middle of two simultaneous robberies at the same bank desperately tries to protect the teller with whom he's secretly in love.

Director:

Rob Minkoff

Writers:

Jon Lucas, Scott Moore

Stars:

Patrick Dempsey, Ashley Judd, Tim Blake Nelson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Dempsey	...	Tripp
Ashley Judd	...	Kaitlin
Tim Blake Nelson	...	Peanut Butter
Mekhi Phifer	...	Darrien
Matt Ryan	...	Gates
Jeffrey Tambor	...	Gordon Blythe
John Ventimiglia	...	Weinstein
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Jelly
Curtis Armstrong	...	Mitchell Wolf
Rob Huebel	...	Rex Newbauer
Adrian Martinez	...	Mr. Clean
Natalia Safran	...	Swiss Miss
Octavia Spencer	...	Madge
Eddie Matthews	...	Jack Hayes
Rob Boltin	...	Credit Manager

Storyline

Tripp (Patrick Dempsey) walks into a bank to get some change and ends up as a hostage to two bank robber-teams, robbing the bank he is at. In an almost Sherlock Holmesian way he has to solve this Agatha Christie inspired mystery and win the girl's (Ashley Judd) heart. But not everything is at it seems, and there are many twists and turns in this comedy.

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Plot Keywords:

master criminal | secret identity | whodunit | murder | robbery gone awry | 

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Taglines:

Two Sets of Bank Robbers. One Very Sticky Heist.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

IFC Films [United States] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 August 2011 (Russia)

Also Known As:

Untitled Bank Heist Comedy

Filming Locations:

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,098, 21 August 2011, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,098, 21 August 2011

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Safran Company,Foresight Unlimited,Shifting Gears Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Depakene is a mood stabilizer, implying Tripp suffers from Bipolar disorder.

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Goofs

The gun used to kill the very first victim is a Beretta 92FS or US Army M9. It is a double-action handgun with open hammer design. Judging by the trigger position, the pistol has already been cocked, but the hammer is not. Moreover, we see the finger pull the trigger and the gun fire without any movement of the hammer, which is impossible in this situation.

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Quotes

Mr. Clean: Can we waterboard him? I saw how to do it on the Discovery channel.

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Connections

References Rain Man (1988)

User Reviews

An entertaining game of "Clue".

Flypaper is an unconventional 'whodunit' in the form of a screwball comedy. It starts off with a guy named Tripp (played by Patrick Dempsey) who walks into a bank to get some change and ends up in the middle of two simultaneous bank robberies, executed by two different gangs, one of whom highly professional, the other one very much the opposite. What follows is an idiotic muddle of story lines and plot twists, which overall is pretty funny and at times even hilarious.

Flypaper's biggest asset is its wild array of stereotype characters, which certainly doesn't always work out, but in this case does so very well, mostly because of the clever writing. The dialogue is sharp and witty, and the way the characters are played out against one another is really the stuff of great comedies. One of the best characters is one called Peanut Butter, played by the great Tim Blake Nelson, who, together with his buddy Jelly forms a duo of laughably amateurish hillbilly bank robbers. The other team of (professional) bank robbers is set together of another great group of stereotypes, namely The Black Guy, The Jewish Guy and The British Guy (not their actual character names, just pointing it out), which in itself sounds like a "three guys walk into a bar" joke, and it actually works out funnier than you might expect. And then there's the group of hostages (all bank employees), all with their own crazy little character traits, paranoia and strange ulterior motives, more afraid of each other than of the people robbing their bank.

I must admit, I didn't have great expectations for Patrick Dempsey, but he pleasantly surprised me with his knack for timing and delivery. His character is a completely hyper-active genius, brilliant with numbers and facts, dead-set on solving the strange mysteries that keep piling up in the bank as the robberies go on, and Mr Dempsey plays his role convincingly. Who knew McDreamy had a serious sense of humour. Ashley Judd is a reliable actress, and she can really deliver some good comedy too. But I have to mention one thing: it's really such a shame that all these actresses (who were never bad looking to begin with) have succumbed to the pressures of botox and fillers. She has a really pretty face, but now that she's obviously had some work done, her eyes look puffy and something overall just doesn't look right. The reason I say this is because it gets in the way of her acting, making her expressions a little screwy a times, and this somewhat ruins the experience when she's trying to deliver a certain emotion. And even in a light-hearted comedy, this can work against the quality of someone's performance. It's too bad, but fortunately Ms Judd still has plenty of talent to make up for it. Actually, all the actors are really good in their roles, they're none of them really big names, but obviously, that's not saying anything. There's only one case of miscasting, and that's Mekhi Phifer. He's a very fine actor, but obviously more suited for serious roles. He took his role way too seriously, maintaining a poker face even when everybody around him was acting like a goon. And even when he was seemingly trying to be funny, he didn't really deliver. So, no more comedies for you, Mekhi.

Story wise, Flypaper basically unfolds as an increasingly intricate game of "Clue", at one point even bearing some resemblance to a funny version of The Usual Suspects. The plot starts out pretty much literally thin as flypaper, but thickens throughout, without getting ridiculously over thought. The story has some inconsistencies throughout, but they're hardly any bother. And the ending is kind of a cliché, but let's face it, have you ever played "Clue" without saying 'I knew it all along!' at the end? Right. There's nothing that actually spoils the fun at any point. This is a semi-dark, adult comedy, with a healthy dose of profanity and crude humour, though innocent like a baby compared to Tarantino or Ritchie. Speaking of which, I sometimes got the feeling that director Rob Minkoff watched these two very closely and took notes, considering some camera techniques and directorial gimmicks he threw in here and there, which is OK up to some level, but not when your film starts to look like a silly rip-off (Snatch comes to mind...). Fortunately, Flypaper manages to keep true to a style of its own, simply 'borrowing' some inspiration from other great crime comedies. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Overall, Flypaper is an entertaining Sunday evening-filler, somewhere in between indie and low-budget Hollywood. It may be somewhat forgettable but it's surely good enough to keep you in your seat from start to finish, and I would certainly recommend it for an evening of good fun.