Hidden Gems: Mystery Team

Until this year I never considered this movie a hidden gem.  It’s a hilarious comedy with current hipster heroes Donald Glover and Aubrey Plaza so how could it possibly be little known?  Needless to say I was shocked when I brought the movie up in conversation and people just stared at me blankly.  I mean, hasn’t everyone in my generation seen and enjoyed Derrick Comedy’s “Bro Rape” sketch?  Yet none of you seem to know of the existence of a movie from the very same people.  Well prepare to change that because even if you didn’t have a vested interest in the project already, Mystery Team is probably the funniest straight up comedy that has come out in years.

Do you remember reading Encyclopedia Brown as a kid and wondering what it would be like to be a boy genius detective?  Well this is the story of three kids who lived the dream all the way up to the present day, where they’re 18 and still acting like 7 year old kid detectives.  Then a little girl shows up and pays them a dime to find out who killed her parents.  Hilarious hijinks ensue as the guys have to make their way through the seedy criminal underbelly of the city.  Like most great fish out of water comedies, the plot is entirely an excuse to set up jokes at our heroes’ expense.  Considering our heroes are borderline retarded, the shots the movie takes are incredibly easy and work almost every time.  I mean, a guy drinking dog piss to sanitize himself after a chase through a strip club is always hilarious, right?

 

The members of the titular Mystery Team are played by your usual Derrick Comedy guys.  We’ve got Charlie the strongest kid in town, Duncan the boy genius and Jason the master of disguise.  As you can imagine, almost none of these things are true (i.e. our boy genius is the dog piss drinker).  I mentioned before that these guys are borderline retarded but the way they play their roles is awesome.  Instead of just coming off as stupid they perfectly portray children trapped in adult bodies.  A lot of this is in the writing but the guys’ performances make their developmental deficiency really believable and hilarious.

 

The rest of the cast is kind of hit or miss.  I don’t get the appeal of Aubrey Plaza.  She’s serviceable here and isn’t too distracting but I could do without ever seeing her in a movie again.  The best supporting character we get is Jordy (Bobby Moynihan).  He’s the convenience store clerk who thinks he has it all even though he’s pathetically trapped in his retail prison.  He’s a chilling reminder of what the guys are headed for if they don’t grow the fuck up and become adults.  Also “Dude did you fuck this bread!?” is probably the greatest line in cinema history.

I’d say with confidence that Mystery Team is probably the smartest dumb comedy to be released in the last decade.  A lot of the jokes should warrant face palms but they’re set up and delivered so smartly that they kill almost every time.  If you’re a Donald Glover fan, you owe it to yourself to check this flick out.  Even if you hate Donald Glover you should still watch this to see him perform outside of Community.  Mainly though, if you want to laugh so hard that your nose becomes a beer canon, you need to watch Mystery Team immediately.  It’s on Instant Watch so unless you’re one of those weirdos that doesn’t have Netflix you really have no excuse.