Apple TV+ streams the 2024 heist drama/comedy/thriller “The Instigators” after a weeklong theatrical run. It’s a Casey Affleck and Matt Damon vehicle, so you know it’s going to be set in the grungier side of greater Boston, featuring many broad vowels, F-bombs and an athletic use of obscenity and pop-culture-drenched chitchat.
Damon stars as Rory, an older vet who has made a mess of his life and confesses as much to his VA therapist, Dr. Rivera (Hong Chau, “The Whale”).
All but announcing his intentions to end it all on his way out of his session, he becomes embroiled in an audacious scheme. Mr. Begesi (Michael Schulberg), a foul-mouthed gangster, hires Rory and a gaggle of misfits, including the motor-mouthed Cobby (Affleck), to rob the dining hall where the very corrupt Mayor Miccelli (Ron Perlman) collects all his graft. In cash.
Needless to say, the heist goes sideways in a number of colorful ways that involve exploding houses, bars and an ambitiously staged highway chase scene. While movie critics have given “Instigators” poor-to-middling reviews, it may be worth watching for its impressive cast of character actors, including Alfred Molina as Begesi’s right-hand man, Toby Jones, and Ving Rhames as the mayor’s ominous enforcer. New England Patriot legend Rob Gronkowski cameos as himself.
Directed by Doug Liman (“Swingers”), the movie is pulled in many directions at once. Is it a thriller? A comedy? A chatty therapy movie? A SWAT squad shoot-‘em-up? Along the way it throws a bazillion cinematic cliches at the screen.
Ultimately, Damon weighs down the movie — but not with a poor performance. He does just too good a job portraying a past-his-prime divorced depressive, who (spoiler alert!) will go to the most extreme lengths (like blowing up half of Boston!) just to see his estranged son at hockey practice.
— In a rare move, two different networks depart from their schedule of distraction to broadcast from their news divisions. On ABC, the usual summer rerun of “Shark Tank” gives way to “Maui Rising: The Fight for Hawaii’s Future” (8 p.m.), which explores how recent wildfires have galvanized efforts by island native residents to rebuild and renew their neighborhoods, taking a grassroots approach rather than waiting for outside intervention.
CBS is home to hours of programming some may describe as “copaganda,” an uncritical view of a highly militarized police response to societal problems. “13 Days in Ferguson” (10 p.m.) recalls the protests and unrest in the aftermath of the 2014 shooting of a young resident. Cedric the Entertainer (star of CBS’s “The Neighborhood”) visits with retired Capt. Ron Johnson, an old friend, to discuss events in Ferguson and changes that have occurred in the past decade.
— The Netflix documentary “Inside the Mind of a Dog” helps viewers “translate” canine facial expressions and other means of expressing emotions. Featuring Rob Lowe.
— Streamers reboot familiar juvenile franchises on “Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Paramount+) and “Yo Gabba GabbaLand!” (Apple TV+).
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— A journalist facing a career crisis returns to her hometown in the 2023 rom-com “An Ice Palace Romance” (7 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— “Primetime in Paris: The Olympics” (8 p.m., NBC) presents coverage of track and field, beach volleyball and breaking.
— A musical family launches a new reality series, but not their first, on “The Braxtons” (9:30 p.m., WE, TV-14).
— Celebrities find stylish conversation at a new hair salon on “Wiggin’ Out with Tokyo Stylez” (10:10 p.m., WE, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
A handsome striver (Montgomery Clift) beguiles a rich beauty (Elizabeth Taylor) after disposing of his inconvenient girlfriend (Shelley Winters) in the 1951 drama “A Place in the Sun” (8 p.m., TCM, TV-PG). The subject of a daylong salute from TCM, Clift portrays a Victorian-era cad who courts a rich man’s spinster daughter (Olivia de Havilland) in the 1949 adaptation of the Henry James novella “The Heiress” (10:15 p.m., TV-PG).
SERIES NOTES
“Lingo” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “WWE Friday Night SmackDown” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … Eco-terrorists kidnap the child of an energy executive on “S.W.A.T.” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
LATE NIGHT
Elizabeth Warren and Loudon Wainwright III appear on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS, r) … “The Tonight Show” and “Late Night With Seth Meyers” are preempted for Olympic coverage.
Lamorne Morris guest hosts Marlon Wayans, Bowen Yang, Matt Rogers and Brigitte Calls Me Baby appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (11:35 p.m., ABC, r) … Taylor Tomlinson hosts Sherry Cola, Solomon Georgio and Debra DiGiovanni on “After Midnight” (12:35 a.m., CBS, r).
