I love films taking on true stories that are too outrageous to be made up. Most of these kinds of things end up dealing with crimes of some sort involving things that are the last thing you would think of. The latest looking to take on this genre is Queenpins starring Kristen Bell, Kirby Howell - Baptiste, Paul Walter Hauser, Joel McHale, with Bebe Rexha and Vince Vaughn with director’s Aron Gaudet & Gita Pullapilly at the helm. Could this couponing crime film deliver or will it fail to save?

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Queenpins follows a bored and frustrated suburban homemaker, Connie and her best pal JoJo, a vlogger with dreams, who turn a hobby into a multi-million dollar counterfeit coupon caper. After firing off a letter to the conglomerate behind a box of cereal gone stale, and receiving an apology along with dozens of freebies, the duo hatch an illegal coupon club scheme that scams millions from mega-corporations and delivers deals to legions of fellow coupon clippers. On the trail to total coupon dominance, a hapless Loss Prevention Officer from the local supermarket chain joins forces with a determined U.S. Postal Inspector in hot pursuit of these newly-minted “Queenpins” of pink collar crime.

 

I love this cast so was instantly interested in this film especially with the humor that looked to come with it from the trailer. The story might seem silly on the surface, but to see how it all works and where it goes it is pretty interesting. Add that the laughs brought on by the always great Vaughn and Hauser and you have a flick that delivers a little bit of everything.

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Bell and Baptiste have great chemistry as both friends and “queenpins”. They bring an every woman persona to the roles that makes their crime empire all the more insane and believable. This also offers up some funny moments throughout as they try to figure out the ins and outs of a criminal empire. The real treat for me was Vince Vaughn and Paul Walter Hauser. They offer up some of the best banter in the entire movie. Vaughn plays it more straightlaced here giving the laughs to Hauser who knocks it out of the park per usual. I love that guy and will watch anything he does.

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The film is a bit predictable on some of its direction, but the journey to get there is enough fun that it is work checking out. I think this is one that deserved a bigger release, but thankfully it is currently streaming on Paramount + so check it out and decide for yourself.