The Instigators

Matt Damon and Casey Affleck return to the crime-ridden streets of their native Boston in The Instigators, which incorporates some gratuitous Fenway Park shots to validate the authenticity.

They might feel right at home in this breezy and stylish caper from director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity), but this story of desperation, greed, vengeance, and dishonor among thieves too often settles for cliches and outrageous narrative twists.

Damon plays Rory, a suicidal ex-Marine who opens the film by detailing his troubled circumstances to his therapist (Hong Chau).

It turns out he owes more than $32,000 in debt before being allowed to reunite with his son. His last-ditch plan is to join up with the crew of a hot-tempered robber (Michael Stuhlbarg) to hold up an election-night victory party for the mayor (Ron Perlman) — assuming he wins.

When the plan naturally goes awry, Rory and alcoholic ex-con Cobby (Affleck) find themselves on the lam in a quest to retain some of the cash. But they’ll have to elude authorities, the mayor’s henchmen, and their boss.

Both scoundrels and schemers, the mild-mannered Rory and the impulsive Cobby are forced into a reluctant odd-couple partnership. As the stakes escalate, so does their need for resilience and resourcefulness to finally catch their big break.

The story is set against a backdrop of contemporary sociopolitical volatility, bureaucratic corruption, and bitter ideological division, which adds a layer of relatable tension. Liman stages some action sequences with flair, such as an impressive car chase through busy downtown Beantown streets and thoroughfares.

The amusing adversarial chemistry between longtime friends Damon and Affleck helps to elevate a formulaic screenplay, written by Affleck and Chuck MacLean (creator of the series “City on a Hill”), even if their bickering becomes tiresome. Still, they generate hard-earned sympathy for broken men who can’t get their lives together.

However, the periphery characters lack depth, squandering a deep supporting cast that includes Alfred Molina, Ving Rhames, Toby Jones, Paul Walter Hauser, and rapper Jack Harlow.

The Instigators is not funny enough as a buddy comedy and not exciting enough as a heist thriller. The film doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it hardly breaks any new ground, either.

Rated R, 101 minutes.