Mystery Team

Went into this film with zero knowledge of DERRICK comedy (the name reminds me of a famous German TV detective series) or the movie. Well, I must say I laughed more during this film than any other comedy I've seen this year. The dialog and deadpan delivery coupled with a truly clever script result in some genuine hilarity.

For the uninitiated, like myself, the following might help you decide whether this is something you'd like to watch. The film centers around three young (high school senior) "detectives" who've been solving various mysteries (disappearing kitty, stolen lunch, etc.) for a dime a pop throughout their childhood, when they are suddenly thrust into the midst of an honest to goodness real crime investigation. The plot is motivated by a basic fish out of water storyline, whereupon the three chaps stumble around in the adult world mostly unaware of what is going on around them, which makes for some genuinely funny situations.

The lead actors are affable and quickly pull the audience to their side. Unfortunately the supporting cast provides uneven performances, and the entire movie has a "homemade" feel to it. That doesn't begrudge the film's strengths though, carried by the three principals and the comic situations and dialog, which are presented and delivered perfectly. Considering the minimal budget with which they must have worked, one can look past the deficiencies.

I gave the movie 8 stars because I laughed an awful lot, and that's what a comedy is supposed to do, make one laugh. This also reminded me of the Broken Lizard comedy team and Super Troopers. Hopefully the DERRICK team will be able to sustain the momentum and keep making movies as funny as this one, with a better supporting cast and more sure handed direction, which could easily get them atop the current comedy heap.

I loved it. Loved it all over. I was on the edge of my seat, but I kept falling over with laughter. It was written in a way that was perfectly suited to the comedic voices of Bobby Moynihan, Matt Walsh, Jon Daly, Aubrey Plaza, etc but still maintained a really strong voice in and of itself.

Gun to my head, if I had to criticize it, I would say I could have used more Ben Schwartz. But I feel that way about EVERYTHING........

So so so good. I cannot say enough good things about this movie!!!! I feel as though any negative reviewers on here probably wanted to see a simple, straight-forward comedy and that it is not. It is an ethically challenging movie with really artistic choices and deep belly uncontrollable laughs.

Enjoy.

'Mystery Team' is a quirky little marvel. A concept that makes much more sense as a 10-minute comedy sketch is stretched into a 90-minute feature film and only really has one joke, but somehow it works.

That speaks to the talent of creative minds behind the project. They manage to take a marginally funny idea that becomes stale rather quickly, and somehow, they will this whole vehicle to keep trudging forward. Like MacGyver rigging up the device he needs out of whatever is laying around, the guys from Derrick Comedy enthusiastically squeeze the last drop out of everything at their disposal and get the job done.

The plot: three best friends work as detectives, calling themselves The Mystery team. For a hefty fee of a dime, the group will take on any case that comes their way, which is typically limited to the petty misdeeds of seven-year-olds. The team's exploits were charming when they were also seven, but they're now high school seniors, and their behavior makes them outcasts among their peers (but greatly amusing to movie viewers).

That's the primary joke of the movie-these kids are too old for this stuff. They're awkward and immature. They still think girls are icky. There isn't much to the bit, but the filmmakers have an advanced sense of when to smartly weave in secondary story elements and hilarious supporting characters to keep things entertaining. All the actors appear very aware of what movie they're in. They play their parts without an ounce of self-doubt and just the right level of cheesiness.

It becomes apparent very quickly that while the movie is dumb, it's made by smart people. It leans into its own absurdity. The actors are playing 18-year-olds but look 25 and act like they're seven. The Mystery Team members behave as if they're in a G movie despite all the debauchery from everything and everyone around them being decidedly hard R.

The silly, small-scale hijinks is given reason to become a full-length movie when a sad little girl asks The Mystery Team to solve her parents' murder, and they find themselves involved for the first time in a very adult case. Relying on their usual tactics and disguises, they manage to make impressive progress on the mystery, despite looking ridiculous every step of the way.

That's part of the brilliance of this movie. It's ridiculous because the characters are ridiculous, and it knows that. Many of jokes don't land because they aren't meant to. They're meant to emphasize how goofy and awkward these wannabe detectives are in every human interaction.

It's obvious from watching this film that the creative team members were capable of more. Glover became a superstar and the other members of Derrick Comedy all found their niche in writing or performing. Many of the supporting actors also landed more lucrative roles in movies or TV.

This is by no means a classic. The stars may look back on this and cringe, but they shouldn't. It's a better movie than most will give it credit for, and it's the one that will live on as what was a sign of greater things to come for this talented ensemble.

Hilarious. Cute. Adorable. Hard hitting action. Swear words! This movie has everything.

Seriously, Comedy Examiner said this was the funniest move of 2010 (June writing) and I seriously agree.

I saw this sketch comedy team on YT and they were very, very funny. Yet they rose to new heights by combining my favorite genre as an 8 year old with world weary modernism. I just wish that my favorite SNL characters would have made a film in this vein. It's funny; very funny. It's fresh and it hasa lot of heart...then spleen, then kidneys.

Best of luck to these guys and looking forward to the sequel.

You have to see this movie.

"Mystery Team" is a parody of a phenomenon that was never itself a film: The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and especially Encyclopedia Brown.

They manage to walk the line -- like the first Austin Powers film -- so that it's neither too wacky so you can't believe it and don't care about the characters, but not too boring that it's not full of subtle interplay.

The main gag is the innocence of the boys, who are thrust into adult situations continually. It's all about the acting in this film, and kudos especially to "Donald Glover". Dressing like an outrageous hobo, for example, could come across as really stupid in a film with Jim Carrey or Rob Schneider, who play up their roles too much. Donald manages to do it consistently.

On top of that, there are a several delightful plot twists that you won't see coming. The film tries to balance the boys basically being incompetent with allowing them to succeed in a way that isn't too corny.

It's laugh-out-loud funny throughout, a genuine must-see if you like intelligent edgy comedies. Note, it's not really meant to be a kids film. There's a lot of raunchy humor.

I'll give Mystery Team a well-earned 9 out of 10. It just missed a 10 because the ending was good but not quite a classic.