Written and directed by Kelly Reichardt, in 1970, failed architect James Blaine Mooney and cohorts wander into a museum in broad daylight and steal four paintings. When holding onto the art proves more difficult than stealing them, Mooney is relegated to a life on the run. Starring: Josh O’Connor, Alana Haim, Hope Davis, John Magaro, Gaby Hoffmann, Bill Camp, Eli Gelb, Cole Doman and Javion Allen.
If ever there was an example serendipitous timing in film, it’s releasing The Mastermind right after a real life heist at the Louvre. It’s almost impressive considering that usually falling in line with a news event tends to be for negative reasons, but in this case, it’s an interesting coincidence. Especially because of how the crimes intersect, taking place in broad daylight using very simple techniques. That casual yet deceptive nature is the heart of The Mastermind.
This will likely be one of the most lowkey heist films that you’ve ever seen, Kelly Reichardt’s focus is not the crime and possible riches as would be traditional, the focus is on Josh O’Connor’s JB. The entire film is a fascinating exploration of his mind, he’s clever and confident yet lazy and selfish, organised yet haphazard, observant yet can lack self-awareness. O’Connor deserves a lot of credit for making him likable and relatable despite his many flaws. The weight of the film lands firmly on his shoulders and he does an excellent job of keeping you intrigued and invested.
To that extent, there isn’t actually that much space and time for the other actors to make a big impact, it’s a very strong focus on JB. However, the key exception to that is Gaby Hoffmann as Maude, she is magnificent and powerful in this role. It’s understated and delivered in a maternal, protector fashion, it’s utterly captivating, she commands the scenes and adds a needed punch to the later scenes to push JB into a new direction. John Magaro is close behind her as Maude’s husband Fred, he brings a simpler, wholesome presence, it’s genuinely sweet and touching.
Their parts to play here are essential because the first half of The Mastermind has that suspense and unpredictability of the heist, but the latter half slows down quite intensely, so it needed that injection of personality and humour from Hoffman and Magaro to reinvigorate it. It can still tend to spend a few beats too long on scenes, letting them overtly run their course. It does feel like a purposeful choice to push the audience to observe and consider them more but when the energy switches to something slightly sad and lost in the later scenes, it isn’t as effective.
Visually, it’s consistent throughout, strongly leaning into the era and creating a fantastic texture that’s reminiscent of Inside Llewyn Davis. It has an intentional simplicity, taking you back to that more wholesome time, while not being simple itself, it’s contemplative and nicely matches the tone of JB’s journey. Its only weakness with the aesthetic is going a little too dark in moments, embracing the era a tad too far and losing some of its earthy colour.
The Mastermind is a different kind of heist picture, exploring the highs and the lows but unexpectedly focusing more on bottoming out. There’s a great humour to it but it’s also surprisingly sad. It can spend a little too long in some scenes and maybe could have explored the ethical and emotional layers further, but it’s an engaging, unusual story. Kelly Reichardt beautifully captures that 1970s feel and creates an atmosphere much like cinema of that era, winding and introspective. Josh O’Connor gives an excellent lead performance creating a character who’s not a hero, not an anti-hero, neither good nor bad, he’s simply stuck in-between, forever looking for an easy way out.
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