Masterminds (2016)

The plot is just-got-robbed-poor (there’s no heist, fugitive, or character tension to be found), and only a couple of the many jokes land, so two acts in and things are looking bleaker than a corn dog at a hot dog party before the marvelous moustached Mike McKinney shows up and finds his fate to add a jolt of comedy and give the plot a needed twist. The climax lets things down again but by then the continued earnest charm of David Ghantt has at least made him somewhat of an engaging lead.

3

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

A listless and alienated teenager decides to help his new friend win the class presidency in their small western high school, while he must deal with his bizarre family life back home. (IMDb)

The random dead-pan humour that makes up the entirety of this film is executed to perfection, as the most mundane of situations and conversations are mined for loads of laughs. Heder and co. deliver their carefully measured yet wonderfully uninhibited material about tether ball, quesadillas, and Chapstick with nary a smile as an unassuming organ-laced soundtrack completes the mellow but ridiculous vibe for this compilation of memorably minimal and endlessly quotable vignettes.

7/10 (Good)