Hollywood loves a heist. Usually, though, those movies involve George Clooney in a sharp suit or some high-tech laser grid. But the Kristen Wiig and Zach Galifianakis movie Masterminds is definitely not that. It is a loud, messy, sweat-drenched comedy about people who are spectacularly bad at being criminals. Honestly, if you watched it back in 2016, you probably remember the wigs more than the plot.
The film is basically a caricature of the 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery. It’s a "true story," but only in the sense that the names are real and $17 million actually went missing. The rest is pure Jared Hess chaos—the same guy who gave us Napoleon Dynamite.
The Absolute Mess of the Loomis Fargo Heist
You can't talk about this movie without talking about David Ghantt. In real life, he was a guy working for $8.15 an hour, hauling millions of dollars he’d never own. That’s a recipe for a midlife crisis if I’ve ever seen one. Zach Galifianakis plays Ghantt with this bizarre, soft-spoken Southern drawl that makes him sound like he’s perpetually confused by the concept of air.
Then you have Kristen Wiig as Kelly Campbell. She’s the work crush. The "femme fatale" in denim. She lures David into the scheme at the behest of Steve Chambers, played by Owen Wilson.
The real-life heist was the second-largest cash robbery on U.S. soil at the time. David literally just loaded a van with cash and drove away. He left $3.3 million behind simply because it wouldn't fit in the car. Think about that for a second. They were so unprepared they literally had too much money to steal.
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Why the Kristen Wiig and Zach Galifianakis Movie Almost Never Came Out
It’s kinda wild that Masterminds even made it to theaters. It was filmed in 2014. It sat on a shelf for two years. Why? Because the studio, Relativity Media, went completely broke. They filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and the movie became a legal hostage.
By the time it actually hit screens in late 2016, the "hype" was basically a lukewarm puddle. People had forgotten the trailers. Critics were already tired of the "wacky Southerner" trope.
The Comedy Avengers (Who Mostly Just Screamed)
The cast list is actually insane. You’ve got:
- Zach Galifianakis as the bowl-cut-wearing lead.
- Kristen Wiig doing her best "flirty but stressed" routine.
- Kate McKinnon as David’s fiancée, Jandice. She steals every scene by just staring into the middle distance.
- Leslie Jones as an FBI agent who is mostly there to yell at people.
- Jason Sudeikis as a hitman who eventually becomes David’s best friend.
Sudeikis is arguably the best part of the whole thing. He plays Mike McKinney, a psychopath with a mustache who decides not to kill David because they have the same name on their fake IDs. It’s stupid. It’s also the only part of the movie that feels truly inspired.
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Fact vs. Fiction: What Actually Happened?
The movie leans hard into the "hillbilly" aesthetic. It treats the characters like total morons. In reality, David Ghantt was a Gulf War veteran. He wasn't exactly a criminal mastermind, but he wasn't the bumbling cartoon character Zach plays.
The spending spree, though? That was real. Steve Chambers and his wife Michelle were legendary for how fast they blew the money. They bought a mansion, a BMW Z3, and a velvet painting of Elvis. Michelle famously went to the bank and asked how much she could deposit without the feds noticing. When the teller got suspicious, she literally said, "Don't worry, it's not drug money." You can't make this stuff up.
David, meanwhile, was hiding out in Cozumel, Mexico. He was waiting for his cut of the money, which never really came. Steve sent him just enough to keep him from coming home and snitching. Eventually, the FBI caught up with them because, well, it’s hard to hide $17 million when you’re buying $600 worth of cigars in a small North Carolina town.
Does it Still Hold Up?
If you’re looking for a sophisticated satire, keep moving. Masterminds is a movie where a man gets his butt cheeks caught in a fence. It’s a movie where Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon have a fistfight in a department store using bras and shoes as weapons.
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But there’s something weirdly charming about the Kristen Wiig and Zach Galifianakis movie today. It represents a specific era of "Studio Comedy" that doesn't really exist anymore. Everything now is either a $200 million franchise or a tiny indie flick. A mid-budget heist comedy with five SNL legends? That’s a relic.
Honestly, the chemistry between Wiig and Galifianakis is what saves it. They have this awkward, "we shouldn't be doing this" energy that feels genuine. They both look like they're having fun, even when the script is failing them.
What You Should Do Next
If you haven't seen it, or if you only saw the edited-for-TV version, it's worth a revisit on a lazy Sunday. Just don't expect Ocean's Eleven.
- Watch for the background details: Jared Hess loves weird production design. Look at the stuff in the background of Steve Chambers’ mansion. It’s a goldmine of bad 90s taste.
- Check out the real David Ghantt: He actually consulted on the film and appeared at the premiere. Watching interviews with him gives you a much better sense of the actual stakes involved in the 1997 heist.
- Skip the trailers: They give away almost every major joke. Go in cold if you can.
The movie didn't set the world on fire, and it didn't win any Oscars. It's a loud, sweaty, Southern-fried caper that's just trying to make you laugh at people who are way out of their depth. Sometimes, that's enough.