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:

What if everything goes wrong during a bank robbery?

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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:

Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,098, 21 August 2011

Gross USA:

$5,043

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,142,154

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Safran Company, Foresight Unlimited, Shifting Gears Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jessica Biel and Liv Tyler were considered for the lead female role.

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Goofs

When Weinstein and team enter in the bank they scramble or in other words shuts off all signals but later we see Gates using a laptop to surf the internet without an ethernet cable which means he's using wifi which isn't possible if all signals are jammed.

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Quotes

Peanut Butter: Shoot anything that moves... unless it's me.

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Connections

References Rain Man (1988)

User Reviews

A crime comedy that's unique and messy and nowhere near realistic

There comes a time in every criminal's life when he has to make sacrifices. "Flypaper" takes place in a bank where two criminal groups have simultaneously arrived to rob the place. But this is not a crime drama; it's a dark comedy revolving around some very unlikely characters. Namely, Tripp (Patrick Dempsey), an autistic hero of sorts who is super-observant but unable to behave appropriately.

Tripp enters the bank at closing time but calculating the movements of everyone around him he guesses what is about to occur and jumps over the counter to save the pretty teller (Ashley Judd). In the scramble that ensues, there is one dead body, a room full of huddled bank employees-turned-hostages, and then Tripp, standing there, trying to negotiate a peace accord. It should be made very clear at this point that this is a comedy and is far from realistic.

The film really does seem like it was trying to be a funny, comedic, chaotic mess. And that's exactly what it is. The characterizations, although unique in some cases, are messy. The many twists and turns, perhaps a half-dozen too many, are messy. But is it really necessary to fault a film when it accomplishes exactly what it set out to do?

What "Flypaper" really accomplishes is a low-budget indie version of "Ocean's Eleven" but with a "who done it" mystery angle. Sometimes slapstick, frequently zany, but also sometimes clever, it's comedy first, crime second, and realism nowhere to be found.