The Mastermind
2025
***
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Cast: Josh O’Connor, Alana Haim, Hope Davis, John Magaro, Gaby Hoffmann, Bill Camp, Rhenzy Feliz, Matthew Maher, Amanda Plummer, Eli Gelb, Cole Doman, Javion Allen
A jobless carpenter hopes to change his family's fortunes by stealing four paintings from the local art museum. However, he chooses his partners poorly and his cosy life quickly falls apart. Kelly Reichardt's slow and modest heist film is set in 1970 against the backdrop of social unrest and the Vietnam War, and is inspired by real-life art thefts and other works in this genre. Reichardt's work is 10% plot and 90% vibes. The story feels unoriginal, and the slow-witted, sad-sack hero played by Josh O’Connor fails to evoke much sympathy. The supporting characters are barely sketched at all. All in all, this is an overlong and largely uneventful film, though the ironic ending at least left me with a smile.
