Today the 2-Minute Verdict turns its judgmental eye towards Mystery Team, the Sundance Film Festival "comedy sensation" about a Bloodhound Gang-type trio of neighborhood crime-solvers who refuse to grow up. Cinematical described it as "Encyclopedia Brown meets Napoleon Dynamite with a pinch of Ace Ventura." CinemaBlend called it "the Rocky Horror Picture Show of mystery movies." And Slashfilm called it "funnier and more original than 99% of the comedies Hollywood releases now-a-days." Now that we've seen the trailer, we can finally throw in our two cents: "Really terrible-looking!"
For starters, this looks like the cheapest movie ever made, shot, costumed, set-dressed etc. I realize there's a lot of shoddy-looking movies out there, but ones that aspire to a theatrical release that don't rely on the whole shaky/handheld/mumblecore aesthetic just kind of end up being ... distracting? In their shoddy appearance? This looks less like a feature film, more like a mid-budget webisode of something on FunnyOrDie.
Except that it's also not particularly funny? For starters, is there some reason these guys are still acting like doofuses in their 20s, beyond the fact that that is a premise for comedy? And do you really want to come out of the gate with the magnifying glass bit? Then those kind of hammy introductions follow. Then the set-up comes -- they have to solve an actual double-murder; OK, that's good -- then a series of shots follow that aren't particularly funny nor do they convey any essential information. And who voted the "Master of Disguise" Jason as the lead Mystery Teamer? He's the least funny of the three. Stop mugging, Master of Disguise!
It's the Rocky Horror Picture Show of mystery movies, everybody!
Verdict: No.