The Instigators, Apple TV+ review - Matt Damon and Casey Affleck are back on the Beantown beat

This heist-orientated black comedy could appeal to fans of the likes of Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven or the same director’s Out of Sight, without ever quite matching their zip and sparkle. But there are enough loud bangs and big bucks to provide an entertaining night in (presupposing there are suitable lubricants to hand), though you wouldn’t think so from some of the ferociously negative reviews it’s been receiving.

In the director’s chair is Doug Bourne Identity Liman, with a script from Chuck Maclean and Casey Affleck. The latter co-stars with Matt Damon, revisiting their home ground of Boston, Massachusetts. It’s a saga of cynicism, political corruption and hard luck stories. Damon plays Rory, a former Marine struggling to rebuild his life back in the unfriendly real world, while Affleck’s Cobby is a jaundiced ex-convict with a kind of Russian roulette attitude to life. Affleck’s deadpan one-liners contrast nicely with Damon’s pained sincerity.As the election for Boston’s mayor reaches its climax, the duo are hired as low-rent goons by apoplectic, foul-mouthed crime boss Mr Besegai (a formidably bearded Michael Stuhlbarg, pictured above at right). He wants them to raid city hall and steal all the bribes and backhanders that have been piling up to buy favours from Mayor Miccelli (Ron Perlman in sweat-soaked, raging-bull mode). Miccelli always wins and everyone assumes he’ll do it again…

Rory needs money to pay legal fees and child support, while Cobby just wants a job. Obviously, nothing goes to plan. Besegai has put a guy called Scalvo (Jack Harlow) in charge of the raid, but he’s a barely-functioning imbecile whose crass hysterics doom their mission to failure. Several dead bodies later, Rory and Cobby are on the run and embroiled in a hysterical race to find the door marked Exit before the massed ranks of Boston’s law enforcement catch up with them.

It’s not, perhaps, the most original plot (though you’ve seen worse), but Liman has strengthened his hand considerably by employing a strength-in-depth cast. Toby Jones gives a comically grovelling, hand-wringing performance as the mayor’s attorney Alan Flynn, while Alfred Molina is one of Besegai’s browbeaten underlings. Ving Rhames makes a powerful (though, strangely, uncredited) appearance as Frank Toomey, an intimidating and monosyllabic rogue cop who drives around in a huge armoured car, doing dirty deeds for the mayor.

On the other hand, we could have done with a little less of Rory’s therapist Dr Donna Rivera (Hong Chau, pictured above). Her professional concern for her client is touching, but having her inviting him to express his feelings (she’s concerned about his “suicidal ideation”) in the midst of screaming getaway drives through police cars and runaway trucks merely sucks the velocity out of the screen.

However, the ending is quite satisfying and there’s a nifty little McGuffin to keep you interested. I’d give it 3.5 if theartsdesk’s scoring system permitted it.

• More film reviews on theartsdesk