Fly Paper (2011)

Directed by: Rob Minkoff | 87 minutes | comedy, crime | Actors: Ashley Judd, Patrick Dempsey, Jeffrey Tambor, Tim Blake Nelson, Mekhi Phifer, Curtis Armstrong, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Octavia Spencer, Rob Huebel, Matt Ryan, John Ventimiglia, Monica Acosta, Adrian Martinez, Beau Brasso, James DuMont

It is already very annoying when you walk into a bank that is then robbed. Let alone when that same bank is robbed by two teams of criminals! It happens to Tripp (played by Patrick Dempsey) in ‘Flypaper’, who is just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The script of ‘Flypaper’ comes from Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the duo who also wrote the script of the comedy blockbuster ‘The Hangover’. Unfortunately, ‘Flypaper’ doesn’t quite reach the level of ‘The Hangover’. That’s a shame, given the film’s original premise.

At the beginning of ‘Flypaper’, the handsome yet slightly eccentric Tripp walks into an everyday bank to exchange his coins. He is helped by bank clerk Kaitlin (Ashley Judd) and a spark immediately jumps between the two. At that moment, the bank is robbed by two different groups of robbers; one group consists of three well-trained and experienced robbers; the other group consists of two ill-prepared “hillbilly” wacks. At first, the two groups open fire on each other, but eventually Tripp persuades them to work together during the bank robbery. While the robbers go to work cracking the safe, Tripp, Kaitlin and the other hostages are locked in the bank’s staff room. Tripp finds it suspicious that two groups of robbers rob a bank at exactly the same time. He therefore suspects that there is more to it. He and Kaitlin investigate and discover that there is more going on than meets the eye.

Although the film opens quite spectacularly with a large-scale action scene of the robbery, ‘Flypaper’ tends to be more of a comedy than an action movie. Tripp’s eccentric and erratic behavior, exacerbated by the fact that he doesn’t have his meds with him, makes for some comical situations. Patrick Dempsey is clearly trying to break free from his McDreamy character from ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ with this role. Unfortunately, he doesn’t quite succeed in this, and Tripp remains besides being eccentric, especially the beautiful and charming antagonist of the film. There had been more to the part than Dempsey gets out of it.

Other comical situations should arise from the bumbling of the two groups of robbers; especially the two farm boys Jelly and Peanutbutter (played by Tim Blake Nelson and Pruitt Taylor Vince) clearly have no idea what they are doing. Unfortunately, the jokes are usually too bland to really catch on.

The film also revolves around the increasingly complex conspiracy surrounding the robbery. Tripp encounters new clues throughout the film. This works well in the beginning and ensures that you as a viewer are intrigued. In the end, the film only goes too far in this; something that loses power in the denouement.

‘Flypaper’ is somewhat entertaining but doesn’t contain enough strong elements to be really exciting or funny. This is due to the script rather than the acting performance of the cast, who generally do a decent job. Positive is the original premise of a double heist, but beyond that the story is pretty mediocre.