Another another one you may have missed

Time to review a good movie.

If you're good Internet people, you've probably at least heard of Derrick Comedy, probably through their Youtube channel.  In late 2007, they announced a hiatus that ultimately spanned almost two years to begin shooting the movie Mystery Team, which saw a limited release on September 11th and 18th of 2009, and continued to be shown in limited engagements throughout the fall.

Mystery Team is a straight-up Hardy Boys parody.  Our heroes, Jason, (Donald Glover) the master of disguise, Duncan (D. C. Pierson), the boy genius, and Charlie (Dominic Dierkes), the strongest kid in town, were the adorable kid detectives you could call to solve any missing-cat or finger-in-pie-based mystery.  That was ten years ago.

The Mystery Team, now seniors in high school, still spend their weekends solving mysteries at the going rate of a dime a piece, but it has become very clear that the world has grown up without them, as is evidenced by their latest case: to find out who brutally murdered a little girl's (Daphne Ciccarelle) parents and bring him to justice.  The premise certainly isn't anything we haven't seen before, the only real twist on the old yarn being that Jason is dead-set on solving the case to prove to the little girl's sister, Kelly (Aubrey Plaza), that they are real detectives--and hopefully win her affection.  The "dopey detective in way over his head" cliche is just about as old as cinema itself, dating back to the Keystone Cops, and it has since produced other genre mainstays like The Man Who Knew Too Little and the Pink Panther and Police Academy films, and it has been seen even more recently in films like Get Smart and, in a bit of a stretch, Kick Ass.

Virtually all of the humor stems from the investigation leading our naive, child-at-heart, grown-up-in-years heroes through all sorts of adult situations, from a strip club to a drug-dealer's basement to a murder scene.  It's a fairly predictable decision for the script (and pretty much sums up the film's trailer), but the comedy beats are creative enough and the actors believe in their roles so firmly (espcially Donald Glover, who has the charisma to carry any scene by himself and really deserves a shot at a role in a bigger motion picture), that the audience can't help but be entertained.  It's a well-trodden path Mystery Team walks, but it does so with such charm and grace, it's hard not to get swept up in the action.

Obviously, Mystery Team marks Derrick Comedy's first foray into feature-length film, and its easy to see there are some growing pains.  As a Youtube comedy troupe, Derrick Comedy's sketches are generally no longer than four minutes, and often follow a fairly simple formula: quirky, absurd characters following a quirky, absurd premise escalating into a single awkward punchline--hold an uncomfortable pose for three to five seconds and done.  It's a testament to the strength of the writing and the cast's ability as comedic actors that their material is still very funny and every bit as fresh four years after their first video hit Youtube.

That style, however, really can't fill a feature film, and the movie is definitely at its weakest when trying to drive forward the narrative rather than focus on characterization.  The best example of this is in the scene where the Mystery Team follows a suspect into the "Gentlemen's Club."  Being the eternal virgins of the movie, the Mystery Team tries to sneak in undercover as "gentlemen," dressing up in three-piece tuxedos and top hats.  Their exchange with the bouncer has some of the best lines in the movie as our heroes bribe and harumph their way through security.  Once inside, they have no idea how to react, with one of the boys finding himself on the receiving end of a lapdance.  Desperate to get away, they hold out a fistful of cash trying to buy their freedom, which of course, only makes the situation worse.  

Scenes like this give us a sense of who the characters are and make their actions more meaningful.  These moments are when the writing is the strongest and it's clear the actors are having the most fun on-screen.

Which is the problem.  A four-minute sketch gives us very little time to get to know the characters, meaning that the situation and characters have to be established rapidly in order to give the scene any real comedic impact.  Derrick Comedy's Youtube offerings have this down to a science, and this aptitude translates very well to the big screen.  But to flesh out the other 91 minutes, Mystery Team ventures outside Derrick Comedy's comfort zone with varying levels of success.  Mystery Team seems to straddle making a movie packed with comedy beats and advancing a cohesive narrative.  

This is particularly evident in the second act, when the comedic element of the film seems to be almost entirely shelved in order to advance the mystery plot.  It's still an entertaining and compelling watch, but it definitely struggles as the weakest part of the film by far.

The biggest question-mark arising from the computer-monitor-to-silver-screen leap is the gross-out humor, of which there are a surprising number of examples.  

At the strip club, the boys run afoul of the bouncer and have to make a getaway.  Jason runs into the basement and ducks into a room where a man is getting a breastmilk enema, the awkwardness punctuated by the dude launching a rocket of lukewarm mammary juice from his clenched man-flower as a stunned Jason looks on.  Moments later, Jason finds a new hiding spot in a disgusting bathroom that makes the one from Trainspotting look like the executive suite at the Ritz and listens as a stripper pees the ring they're looking forward out into a porcelain mud-butt wasteland.  The boys meet up and before long, they seemingly pay homage to either Trainspotting or Saw as Duncan finds himself elbow-deep in a shitbowl fishing it out.  But don't worry, he sterilizes himself by drinking dog urine.  Then he throws up on his friends.

Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome scene, but moments like these seemingly jump out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly, leaving the viewer bewildered as to where that came from.  For fans, it's sudden and jarring because the humor is so far removed from anything else they've ever done.  For first-time viewers, it's just gross.

On the bright side, there are far more "hits," like Duncan suddenly pulling a "harsh and uncompromising" reference guide to the hobo lifestyle he keeps in his backpack...

...than misses...

But the misses are still pretty funny

The other real issue I have is with the character of Charlie.  He doesn't really do anything and seems just to be there most of the time because they felt like a mystery team should have three members.  He doesn't have many lines, and worse, he doesn't have many funny lines.  Everything that comes out of his mouth seems to be designed to over-explain the joke.  Shortly after Duncan throws up all over himself, Jason, and Kelly, the scene cuts to the three boys sitting in their underwear while their clothes go through the wash.  Kelly's father, Robert (Glenn Kalison), looks confused and asks if Charlie got vomited on also.  Without missing a beat, he responds "no."  Perfect timing, great delivery, and then he continues "...are we not just taking off clothes?"

Why?  You hit it out of the park, why fetch it from the bleachers to take another swing?  I wish I could count how many jokes could have been saved by trimming the already silent Charlie's speaking part down just a bit more.

Still, these are all nitpicks in an overwhelmingly good movie.

Should you see it?  Absolutely.

Mystery Team is a funny, sleek 95-minute romp with likable characters and plenty of gags to go around.  It's clear that this film was a labor of love for the Derrick Comedy troupe.  If you like their Youtube work, I implore you: buy this movie.  

Do not rent it.  Do not borrow it.  Do not pirate it.  Buy this movie.  Derrick Comedy has been doing what they do best--for free--for four years now on the Internet.  If you're the kind of person--like me--who bitches and moans about how the MPAA is a greedy, soulless organization that extorts movie theaters for outrageous percentages of ticket sales, how Hollywood actors are all overpaid, spoiled children, and how talentless hacks keep getting movie deals, this is your chance to put your money where your mouth is.  Mystery Team raked less than $90,000 at the box office.  This is a call from an Internet person to my Internet people to help out some good Internet people.  If you like Derrick Comedy, buy Mystery Team.  These guys richly deserve a big break.  We did it for the Lonely Island people, we did it for The Whitest Kids U Know, let's make it happen for Derrick Comedy.

It's not the funniest movie of 2008, but you could do a lot worse.