Mystery Team (2008)

53% of critics liked it
(17 reviews)
60% of users liked it
(4,054 ratings)

Three would-be Encyclopedia Browns step into the world of grown-up crime in this independent comedy. When they were seven years old, "the Mystery Team" were three kids living in the same neighborhood in Oakdale who played at being precocious preteen detectives. With Jason (Donald Glover) as "the… More Three would-be Encyclopedia Browns step into the world of grown-up crime in this independent comedy. When they were seven years old, "the Mystery Team" were three kids living in the same neighborhood in Oakdale who played at being precocious preteen detectives. With Jason (Donald Glover) as "the Master of Disguise," Duncan (D.C. Pierson) as "the Boy Genius," and Charlie (Dominic Dierkes) as "the Strongest Kid in Town," they would spend their afternoons getting to the bottom of such crimes as missing tricycles and stolen pies, charging ten cents (or some fruit roll-ups) for their services. However, while their peers have moved on to more mature pastimes now that they're 18 years old, Jason, Duncan, and Charlie are hopeless nerds stuck in preadolescence as they prepare to graduate from high school. Convinced that all they need to do is prove their crime-busting talents to regain the respect of their peers, the Mystery Team step into a new class of detective work when a little girl asks them to find out who killed her parents. The guys are up for the challenge, but it isn't long before dealing with real (and truly dangerous) criminals gets them in hot water. Created by members of the comedy troupe DERRICK, Mystery Team received its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 45 min.
Directed By: Dan Eckman
Written By: Donald Glover, D.C. Pierson, Dominic Dierkes
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Comedy

In Theaters: Aug 28, 2009 Wide
On DVD: May 25, 2010
Studio: Roadside Attractions

Critic Reviews

Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times
A pleasant, charming knockabout with a playfully imaginative sense of wit and a pleasingly assured visual style.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
Smutty, silly, groan-worthy in many places, inexplicably hilarious in others, Mystery Team is a guilty pleasure -- a deeply dumb movie made by pretty smart people.
Daniel M. Gold, New York Times
Not surprisingly, especially for a movie heavy on college humor, the results are hit-and-miss. Some bits fall thuddingly flat, and the characters are rarely more than stick figures.
Peter Debruge, Variety
Genuinely funny but amateurishly constructed.
Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Enjoyably crude and occasionally sharply observed dork comedy by Derrick Comedy, a troupe of young unknowns who have gained a YouTube following.
Brian Orndorf, DVDTalk.com
Derrick Comedy would rather be gross and infantile, staging a routine of crass and witless sequences that reduce the film to tiresome cult comedy mechanics, clumsily scripted by the three stars.
Brian Miller, L.A. Weekly
Just because you're a hit on YouTube doesn't mean you should be making movies.
Matt Pais, Metromix.com
Spectacularly funny and refreshingly free of irony ... Way funnier than The Hangover, more clever than Sherlock Holmes.
Betsy Sherman, Boston Phoenix
This ensemble-written movie is a weak effort, despite its appealing premise.
Andrew Wright, The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
A promising premise ... stricken lame by a complete lack of pacing. But then, every once in a while, a discussion about proper hobo bean-slicing etiquette, or a stripper's hilariously blasé scar story comes through and just kills.
Jesse Hassenger, Filmcritic.com
The intersection of child-detective literature and a harsh grown-up world is an irresistible concept
Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru
An outrageous, offbeat comedy that's often preposterous and silly, but nonetheless quite funny and delightfully bizarre.
Mark Peikert, New York Press
If this is the future of comedy in Hollywood, then there's little to fear -- as long as everyone remembers that brevity is the soul of wit.
David Fear, Time Out New York
Does the thought of watching grown men act like socially awkward boy wonders, while everyone tries not to look confused at their golly-gee shenanigans, crack you up?
Kimberley Jones, Austin Chronicle
The twentysomething talents behind Mystery Team are still in the comedy minors, but this nerdy, nutty, perfectly pitched first swing suggests there are major things to come.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Lorenzo v

"One big case. Zero clue." A group of former Encyclopedia Brown-style child-detectives struggle to solve an adult mystery. <center>"One big case. Zero clue." A group of former Encyclopedia Brown-style child-detectives struggle to solve an adult mystery. <center>REVIEW</center> Donald Glover, D.C. Pierson and Dominic Dierkes play three 18 year-old boys who peaked when they were seven years old. A master of disguise, a boy genius and a tough kid, together they formed the Mystery Team, who would solve petty, childish mysteries around town for a dime a pop. They were beloved at the time, but when they're still at it 11 years later, it's kind of sad. One day a little girl brings them a grown-up mystery: her parents were murdered. It's out of their jurisdiction (they're usually occupied with finding out who stuck their finger in an old lady's boysenberry pie), but, pressured to grow up, they take the case. Mystery Team is a parody of a phenomenon that was never itself a film: The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and especially Encyclopedia Brown. They manage to walk the line -- like the first Austin Powers film -- so that it's neither too wacky so you can't believe it and don't care about the characters, but not too boring that it's not full of subtle interplay. The main gag is the innocence of the boys, who are thrust into adult situations continually. It's all about the acting in this film, and kudos especially to Donald Glover. Dressing like an outrageous hobo, for example, could come across as really stupid in a film with Jim Carrey or Rob Schneider, who play up their roles too much. Donald manages to do it consistently. On top of that, there are a several delightful plot twists that you won't see coming. The film tries to balance the boys basically being incompetent with allowing them to succeed in a way that isn't too corny. It's laugh-out-loud funny throughout, a genuine must-see if you like intelligent edgy comedies. Note, it's not really meant to be a kids film. There's a lot of raunchy humor.
Steve K

The humor grows grows on you eventually, leading to some outright guffaws.
Jay H

Not at all the most well-made or interesting film, but much of the film is laugh-out-loud hilarious thanks to the trio's rather random script. No, this film wouldn't have been funny five years ago, but thanks to the advent of the Internet and YouTube, much of the humor in… More
Not at all the most well-made or interesting film, but much of the film is laugh-out-loud hilarious thanks to the trio's rather random script. No, this film wouldn't have been funny five years ago, but thanks to the advent of the Internet and YouTube, much of the humor in this film is well-taken.
Drew S

A one-joke Youtube video that goes on for ninety minutes. Your thirteen-year-old brother may enjoy this.
Aaron N

(After falling on the stage in a strip club) Jason: The floor is wet and it smells like cold cuts. From the creators of the popular online videos, Derrick Comedy, this film features the same comic troupe in their debut feature film. It is consistently funny, very quotable, and… More
(After falling on the stage in a strip club) Jason: The floor is wet and it smells like cold cuts. From the creators of the popular online videos, Derrick Comedy, this film features the same comic troupe in their debut feature film. It is consistently funny, very quotable, and perfect for the internet generation. Little Boy: Oh fuck! Its the mystery team. The story involves three friends who have been working together since they were seven as a group of crime solvers known as the mystery team. The team features Jason, the master of disguise, Duncan, the boy genius, and Charlie, the strongest boy in town. This team may have once been popular, but they are now in their senior year at high school and aren't exactly popular. Despite this, the boys still maintain a sense of innocence in their personalities. Jason: Where are your parents? Aubrey: They're dead, what the fuck is wrong with you!? The chance comes to prove themselves, as the Mystery Team are given their hardest case yet, a murder mystery. With their 10 cent payment given to them in advance, the boys have a clue or two to get them started, and must solve a mystery that may put them in danger. Jason: We're not gonna call the police. Charlie: Oh no, your beginning to sound like dad. As I've stated, the movie is very funny. I would attribute this mainly to the innocence of the boys clashing with the very dark material that is scattered throughout the film involving murder, a dirty strip club sequence, and some other inappropriate moments scattered throughout. There are also a bunch of one-liners, gags, gross moments, and physical comedy that almost always hits the right notes. Little Boy: Yo, you wanna get dry fucked. The cast is good, with the three leads working well together and with the other stars. It certainly has a strong narrative in the form of a mystery, which doesn't make the film seem to much like a stringing together of various skits. The score is also handled well to fit the innocent aspect with the dark material. This is an R-rated flick, but the film manages to have a sweet tone centered around these boys who get into some strange situations. Duncan: Well, it looks like we have a long night of cocaine ahead of us. So overall, I really enjoyed this movie. Its a lot of fun and funny throughout. Kelly: [holding a ring] Where did you find this? Duncan: It's a... long story. Charlie: No it's not. A stripper peed it into a toilet an- Jason: Hey! Shut up.
Chris C

For someone that is familiar with Derrick Comedy, I enjoyed this film. It had a weird sense to it, at some moments it truly felt like you were watching a children's mystery movie and at other times it was raunchy as hell. It made me laugh multiple times, mostly toward the… More
For someone that is familiar with Derrick Comedy, I enjoyed this film. It had a weird sense to it, at some moments it truly felt like you were watching a children's mystery movie and at other times it was raunchy as hell. It made me laugh multiple times, mostly toward the second half of the movie. With that being said, the type of comedy may not be for everyone, but is was definitely a funny movie.
matt s

Mystery Team would have been a better sitcom, but that doesn't mean the film isn't without its moments. The movie kind of lags towards the end, but some scenes had me hysterically laughing. Donald Glover is going to do some good. Keith is right about that. To me, he seems… More
Mystery Team would have been a better sitcom, but that doesn't mean the film isn't without its moments. The movie kind of lags towards the end, but some scenes had me hysterically laughing. Donald Glover is going to do some good. Keith is right about that. To me, he seems like the next big comic star a la Jim Carrey or Eddie Murphy. His commitment to this role is reason enough to watch it as he plays a high school senior stuck in the old days of his juvenile crime fighting team. To be brief, I'm not going to point out the bad (too much gross out and a little too long) because I want people to see this and see what's next in comedy. Enjoy.
Keith M

Donald Glover gives one of those breakthrough comic performances where halfway through the movie you just know your seeing a really funny person, who has a great career ahead of him. The production value is real low budget and some of the jokes do fall flat, but over all though I had… More
Donald Glover gives one of those breakthrough comic performances where halfway through the movie you just know your seeing a really funny person, who has a great career ahead of him. The production value is real low budget and some of the jokes do fall flat, but over all though I had a great time with this movie and I can not think of anyone that I know and respect that would also have a good time with this film. At least watch it for the strip club scene alone, if for nothing else.
Jason R

This is just one of those movies that some people will love and some people will hate. I however absolutley loved it! Even though you have a few "Why the hell am I watching this?" moments, the film is smartly written and acted. My hope is that it finds a bigger audience… More
This is just one of those movies that some people will love and some people will hate. I however absolutley loved it! Even though you have a few "Why the hell am I watching this?" moments, the film is smartly written and acted. My hope is that it finds a bigger audience because I think Mystery Team is one of the better comedies to come out in a long time.
Quinto W

The film has, to be exact, just one joke that it keeps repeating over and over - the fact that these grown-up men keep acting like little kids. Still, the cast is so enthusiastic about this idea, especiall the great Donald Glover, who is fantastic in NBC's Community, that what… More
The film has, to be exact, just one joke that it keeps repeating over and over - the fact that these grown-up men keep acting like little kids. Still, the cast is so enthusiastic about this idea, especiall the great Donald Glover, who is fantastic in NBC's Community, that what was supposed to be an idea that turned annoying after the first 10 minutes actually manages to be consistantly funny.