Movie Review: The Mastermind

3.5 stars out of 5

I left this movie thinking I’d be giving it a higher rating than the aggregated writers on Metacritic. Was surprised to see that, no, it was averaging 80 out of 100, with a handful of perfect 100s from a few top reviewers. Well, I guess there’s a new hardass in town!

And let me say, I am a pretty big fan of writer/director Kelly Reichardt. Was the fact that Yo La Tengo scored 2006’s Old Joy the reason I saw it in the theater? Not sure, but I loved it. (And have since become friendly with costar Daniel London; what a koo-koo crazy world this is.) Her Wendy and Lucy made my top-ten of 2009. I was kind of bored by First Cow in 2019 (another the critics went gaga for), but I thought Reichardt’s 2022 offering Showing Up was a real improvement, and not just because Todd-o-Phonic Todd’s voice was in it.

I went to see The Mastermind solely because it was a Kelly Reichardt film; I didn’t know anything else about it, except that art theft was involved. So I cheered in my seat when the second-listed cast member was Alana Haim, who I dig. Sadly her role as the mastermind’s wife is not much bigger than her glorified cameo in One Battle After Another — here she just gives a lot of disappointed looks.

I’m not familiar with lead actor Josh O’Connor, though he looks like Charlie from Always Sunny. O’Connor is the titular mastermind of a turn-of-the-70s art heist. Except he’s not a hardened criminal, he’s a mild-mannered dad in Framingham, Massachusetts. When we meet him, he is casing the local art museum, and we assume he’s made a foolproof plan to sell four paintings and put his family on an easier street. He’ll still be an unemployed schlub, but maybe not have to borrow money from mom Hope Davis anymore.

So the film begins as a low-key comic heist. My interest was piqued because the targeted paintings are by Arthur Dove, subject of the excellent 2006 song “I’m in Love (With Arthur Dove).” Coincidentally the only time I’ve seen works by Arthur Dove in person was at the Montclair Museum on Art, in the same town I was watching this movie.

O’Connor is solid enough in the heist-leader role, but I found myself no longer rooting for the character as his life begins to crumble. I’m not sure if this was the actor’s fault, or the writing, or both. But the movie also shifts from just-barely comedy to depressing character-driven drama.

Reliable character actor Bill Camp is our mastermind’s dad; he also doesn’t get much to do. Gaby Hoffmann (most recently seen in Deliver Me From Nowhere as Springsteen’s loving mom) plays an old friend. Like Ms. Haim, she is disappointed in our protagonist, but the more veteran actress Hoffmann (she was the 6-year-old niece in Uncle Buck!) is able to imbue her letdown with real gravitas. My favorite actor and character in the movie is her longtime partner Fred, portrayed by Reichardt regular John Magaro. He bursts with sweetness, idealism, and supportiveness; Fred is the guy you want in your corner when the chips are down.

I won’t reveal the ending except to say that I would’ve much preferred a vague conclusion rather than what occurs.

The Mastermind is still in a handful of theaters, but this one is fine to watch via streaming. That’s where I’m going to catch up with the few Kelly Reichardt features I’ve missed. I am indeed a fan of her slowcore style, and admire that she attempts different genres each time out.