Mystery Team Review And Giveaway – Plus Interview With Dan Eckman

Fans of Derrick Comedy have had to wait quite a while to get their hands on the first film, Mystery Team, by the popular group. Debuting at last year's Sundance, the film has had people talking ever since.

The group, which came to fame via internet videos, has managed quite a following, and Donald Glover has made his way to NBC's popular comedy Community.

Though well over a year after after it's premiere, and closing in on a year after a limited theatrical release, fans and Derrick virgins alike are buzzing with interest in the DVD release, and the question (or comment) on everyone's mind is, "Does the irreverent, crass, and often hilarious mindset that can drive over 150 million internet viewings manage the transition to feature length film?"

The answer is pretty easily toward the negative, but that doesn't mean you won't find yourself laughing.

Mystery Team introduces us to Jason (Donald Glover), Duncan (D.C. Pierson), and Charlie (Dominic Dierkes), three guys who have managed to become stuck somewhere around the fifth grade. Apparently early fans of Encyclopedia Brown and similar, they decided to found their own investigative company at an age appropriate to such childish shenanigans, but never stopped living out the fantasy.

Now spending as much time as they can rescuing kittens and unraveling the intricate web of pie-poking villainy, all at ten cents a pop, the Mystery Team has become a town joke, and rather a disappointment to any parents who might be connected with them.

Finding themselves with a murder to solve, and giddy for the chance to prove themselves, the team winds up over their heads, and largely due to their strict avoidance of reality and inability to grow up.

The comedy revolves around the ludicrous situation, though there are gross and vulgar gags thrown in as well, and it works to some degree, but the overall effort cries out for surer hands. Obviously penned by those with a lot of experience getting laughs a few minutes at a time, and rather less working interest for a feature-length runtime, the screenplay ultimately amounts to some major hits swimming in a sea of misses.

It's often funny, and most of the shots are a clever brand of humor, but it's also often a bit boring, as we stumble along while the film tries to make a connection to the next wonderful gag it wants to show us. Long, slow minutes pass by with scenes that aren't funny, and seem to only be putting out a game effort in any case.

Of course, movies via comedy troupes are difficult creatures, and the reaction to the experience will come down to one's sense of humor. Monty Python may occupy a kind of religious status for some, but I know people who walked out of Holy Grail. Even among Python fans, there are bound to be sketches that don't work for any given individual. It's that sort of world.

Mystery Team is definitely worth a look, and as I said, there are parts that are hilarious, but the film seems the result of flying too high, too fast. I enjoyed it fairly well, but my main thought on the film is that I wish they had waited about five years before making it.

Rating:  

Special Features

The DVD release comes with a commentary track by the Derrick Comedy team (Dominic Dierkes, Dan Eckman, Donald Glover, Meggie McFadden, and D.C. Pierson), and it's probably worth at least as much as the film itself. For anyone who even manages a passing interest in the film, the track is a must. Fans will find themselves viewing the film with the commentary repeatedly.

You also get the usual suspects of DVD bonuses, including: gag reel, deleted scenes, and a "Making Of" effort, all of which are probably worth a bit more than average due to the fan appeal. Add to that mix a pre-production test scene, which somehow falls into a similar category, but isn't at all "usual." Finally, there's a "Who Is Wally Cummings?" comedy short, and a Sword Club page, which is a bit confusing.

--

Fans can rejoice, and spend a good deal of time with Derrick. Brave newcomers may find a way to spend an evening full of laughs and craziness, but I recommend checking them out online. I'm not sure you want to go from zero to Mystery Team without some first-hand experience.

Available on DVD, Digital download, and On Demand May 25th!

Win it!

Leave a comment below, and you are automatically entered to win your very own copy of the DVD. U.S. only. Winner will be randomly selected June 15th.

Check the trailer and a clip below, then catch a few minutes with Dan Eckman.

Interview with Director Dan Eckman

I got the chance to talk briefly with Derrick member and Mystery Team Director, Dan Eckman, to get some info on what it was like to take things to feature level.

Mystery Team is not your ordinary film, and talking with the director isn't exactly a typical day at the office either. Given Derrick Comedy's penchant for rather wild humor, I wanted to know show crazy, or serious, things were on the other side of the camera. A wild set, with lots of joking around, or are the Derrick team all business when the camera's aren't on?

According to Dan, things behind-the-scenes were, "intense and tense." He mentioned that the "Making Of" you get on the DVD may give a different impression, but there just wasn't time for a lot fooling around. With a shuffling schedule, and focus on time and budget constraints, there wasn't a lot of downtime.

I also had to ask how organic things were while shooting. An obvious question, and one which people apparently ask frequently about the Derrick internet videos, is to what extent things are scripted.  There is an improv feel to the thing, and while the Derrick website denies an improvisational component to their web videos, it's hard to avoid asking about it.

Dan responded by again citing budget and time. I got the impression that the group would have liked to try a few things to see if any magic made its way to the lens, but there just wasn't the possibility of taking the chance. He did point out that the writing process itself has always been very organic, and that continued with the film, and a line or two here and there might have gotten thrown out at the last minute, but there wasn't any improv at work.

You may wonder what the hardest part of putting this ride together was, and at this point you may guess that it was budget and time, but Dan said that the hardest part, for him anyway, was that he had some really ambitious camerawork in mind when they started. In the end, it just wasn't going to happen, and what he said was difficult was bringing together the intricate and complex things he wanted and the reality of what was possible to get done within the constraints.

That got me wondering what "big things" might have been lost, and he had a pretty quick response. There was a completely different opening sequence to the film, which had us getting a look at the guys when they were young. It was apparently filmed, and, "that was a big process, especially with finding the younger versions of the guys," but ultimately the opening theory was changed.

RU?

© 2010, Are You Screening?. All rights reserved. Reprinting without express permission of the author is prohibited.

About Marc Eastman

Marc Eastman is the owner and operator of Are You Screening? and has been writing film reviews for over a decade, and several branches of the internet's film review world have seen his name. His reviews have brought him personal praise from the director of a major motion picture, and have been used as required reading in a course at a major University. These priceless rewards, along with just bags of cash, keep him from straying from freelance writing. He is also a member of The Broadcast Film Critics Association and The Broadcast Television Journalists Association.

Twitter | Facebook | More Posts (1450)