Mystery Team (2009)

What happens to Encyclopedia Brown when he reaches high school? It’s the main premise of Mystery Team, from the comedy troupe Derrick Comedy. It follows three best friends who started a makeshift detective agency when they were young children. The problem now lies that the three friends are now 18 years old and ready to graduate high school, yet they are stuck in a state of arrested development. Also, the amount mysteries to solve in a sleepy suburban neighborhood aren’t exactly rolling in—the biggest mystery seems to be the location of the bully who stole the lunch money. However, one day a little girl shows up and wants to hire them. Everything seems pretty normal until the girl claims she needs help to find out who murdered her parents. While obviously in over their heads, their decision to tackle the mystery seems to take them through the seediest parts of town, including shoot-outs, strip clubs and drug dealers.

As the three main characters, leader Jason (Donald Glover of Community fame), boy genius Duncan (D.C. Pierson) and the brawn of the group, the dimwitted, big hearted Charlie (Dominick Dierkes) all play a mix of nerdy adolescent innocence and the continual fear of growing up and facing reality. Thankfully, their adventures are also very funny, especially when Glover is able to let loose and go “undercover” with a variety of costumes and characters (the group hilariously dons top hats, tuxedos and canes to try and gain entrance to the “gentleman’s club”). There are also several funny cameos from members of Upright Citizens Brigade and current NBC sitcoms such as 30 Rock (of which Glover was a former writer).

It’s difficult to transition from small, on-the-fly sketches to a full feature length film (see: any SNL movie), and Mystery Team is no exception. There are times in the movie where it feels like the filmmakers are straining to fill in some space with an extra cameo or costume, and while the pacing of the film seems to be a little off at times (much of the humor seems to fly out the window once the plot gets rolling), there is definitely some potential to be found here from the budding comedy troupe. The attention to detail is very admirable, and there is quite a bit accomplished with a paper-thin budget (the strip club and schools look barely populated, which ends up adding to the charm). The film could have easily devolved into cheap jokes and stereotypical characters, but thankfully, the filmmakers are smart enough to invest us in the characters early on, so we’re still engaged by the time the mystery ramps up in full force. There’s definitely enough wit and charm here to merit checking out Mystery Team, and here’s hoping to more good things to come.

Rating: 3 stars