One thing I like about music is that money and renown and advertising doesn't do a thing for quality. Four twenty year olds in their basement can make a better album than the world's most famous band. They probably won't make anywhere close to as much money with that album, but in terms of quality, it's a totally equally playing field.
The same can be said of comedy, to an extent. Sure, a movie might have Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers), a $35 million dollar budget (The Hangover), a solid-gold comedy director/writer (Funny People)...but that's no guarantee that those movies are going to be any funnier than a low-budget movie shot by NYC comedy sketch group in New Hampshire. Because they aren't. Money don't buy funny.
Derrick Comedy's Mystery Team has been playing in limited release (from what I can tell, one city at a time) since September or so. It got to Los Angeles recently and I was lucky enough to catch it at the Nuart Theater.
I wasn't sure what to expect going in, the trailer didn't have me convinced I was going to love it, and while it may not be a perfect movie, it sure made me laugh. A lot.
Mystery Team is the story of three friends (pictured above) who started The Mystery Team when they were little kids. They took cases about missing pies and pencils and wet-willys (or something like that) and it was all pretty normal and cute. The thing is, however, The Mystery Team never stopped. Now the three founding members are 18 year old high school seniors, a laughing stock, and looking for a way to earn some credibility. I won't give too much away, but once a little girl comes to their roadside stand and asks if they can help figure out who murdered her parents, hilarity ensues (though I guess it actually continues to ensue as it was funny before this as well).
What makes Mystery Team work so well is that they absolutely nail the necessary absurdist tone. Sure, you have to suspend your disbelief at times, but it knows what kind of movie it's trying to be and finds the perfect balance between silly and too silly, as well as realistic and too realistic. The writing, from a joke standpoint, is consistently excellent. Very clever, and often very unexpected. The actually plot could be a little tighter, and I personally could have had some of the gross-out humor scaled back, but since I never stopped laughing, those complaints seem more minor.
The movie was shot a couple years ago now, and in since then, there are many actors who have since made their way onto TV, coincidentally all on NBC. Donald Glover (Troy on Community) is the main character (center, above) and Aubrey Plaza (April from Parks and Recreation) is the other daughter of the murdered parents. Bobby Moynihan from SNL is also there, as are Dotcom and Lutz from 30 Rock, as well as Erin from The Office. For any Upright Citizen's Brigade fans, comedy genius Matt Walsh also makes a scene-stealing appearance.
I don't know if it's in theaters anymore, but get Mystery Team on those Netflix queues for when it's released in May.
"We're men, right?"
"We're drinking chocolate milk, aren't we?"
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