Filmmaker realized quickly he wasn't on his home turf anymore.
Matt Damon, who he鈥檇 directed in 鈥淭he Bourne Identity鈥� over 20 years ago, had recruited Liman for his new movie 鈥淭he Instigators,鈥� an action-comedy about a heist gone wrong. Though two decades of friendship is nothing to scoff at, here Liman was coming to Boston to work with , Casey and Ben, whose roots were twice as deep.
鈥淚 was suddenly being parachuted into someone else鈥檚 family,鈥� Liman said. 鈥淓very family鈥檚 crazy. And I loved it. I loved everything about it. In a way, I was back to the days of making independent movies where we couldn鈥檛 get the attention of anybody in the industry so you鈥檙e just doing it on your own with your friends. It's my favorite kind of filmmaking."
鈥淭he Instigators,鈥� an Apple TV+ release is a kind 鈥渢hrowback鈥� movie, in the vein of 鈥淢idnight Run,鈥� producer Kevin Walsh said. Written by Casey and Chuck McLean, Damon plays a desperate father, Rory, and Casey is Cobby, a small-time criminal, who team up to rob a corrupt politician. It goes poorly and they find themselves on the run, with Rory鈥檚 therapist (Hong Chau) in tow.
Liman was excited to direct Damon again for the first time since 鈥淏ourne,鈥� and in a role that鈥檚 so different from Jason Bourne, who was essentially a hyper-competent superhero.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e never seen a character like this in a heist movie,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is a guy who doesn鈥檛 speed. He鈥檚 done everything in his life sort of by the books and this is the first time he鈥檚 going to break the rules.鈥�
And while it was Liman鈥檚 first time working with Casey, playing a guy who鈥檚 鈥渘ever gotten his act together,鈥� he said he鈥檚 quickly become his favorite actor.
鈥淭he Instigators" was a largely free and creative environment, where everyone was chiming in on the script, including Damon and Ben, and working to make things better. He hadn鈥檛 had that sort of experience huddling with his stars and brainstorming the script as they went since 鈥淪wingers.鈥�
And it was a stark contrast to their days on 鈥楤ourne,鈥� Liman said, where there were all these 鈥渁dults in the room telling us how the movie is supposed to be made.鈥�
鈥淲e obviously didn鈥檛 listen to them and that鈥檚 why 鈥楤ourne鈥� is as good as it is,鈥� Liman said. 鈥淏ut here, we were like 鈥榟oly ---, we鈥檙e the adults in the room. How did that happen?鈥�
He praised the model of , Damon and Ben's production company, for getting rid of many of the costly excesses in filmmaking. But, he laughed, 鈥淚t really feels like the inmates are running the asylum.鈥�
The filmmakers really used Boston as well, shutting down streets and tunnels for the chase sequences.
鈥淲e did a stunt that鈥檚 along the Esplanade that runs along the Charles River, which they鈥檝e never shut down,鈥� Walsh said. 鈥淲e did some stuff that you鈥檒l never see in other films. It was challenging but really cool.鈥�
鈥淭he Instigators鈥� was made in partnership with Apple TV+, which will give the film a limited theatrical run starting Aug. 2 before it hits the service on Aug. 9.
Liman recently criticized Amazon/MGM for not giving his a theatrical release. But he鈥檚 not anti-streaming. This is a person who credits his entire career to home video, where most people saw 鈥淪wingers.鈥� He laughed that it would even be absurd to put 鈥淪wingers鈥� up on a giant screen 鈥済iven how shoddy the technical work on the film was.鈥�
His main concern, he said, is that the company is 鈥渋n sync with the agenda of the filmmaker.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 not so much about whether you鈥檙e streaming or theatrical. It鈥檚 about what鈥檚 the agenda of the company? Apple is a premium brand. They want to make aspirational movies because it鈥檚 in sync with their brand,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or a filmmaker like myself who wants to make smart commercial movies that are fun and glossy and, in the case of 鈥楾he Instigators,鈥� don鈥檛 take themselves seriously, it was a really great collaboration with a company.鈥�
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Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
