Dir: Kelly Reichardt | Cast: Josh O’Connor, Gaby Hoffmann, Hope Davis, John Magaro, Alana Haim | US Drama 110′
Josh O’Connor is now hot property on the arthouse circuit and stars in this offbeat character study set in 1970s Massachusetts. He is James Blaine Mooney an unemployed artist and failed academic who makes uses of any spare time to take his kids to the local museum in Framingham.
The film opens with him surreptitiously slipping a precious figurine into his pocket to test out the museum’s security system. The guard is gently snoozing in a corner and unaware of the theft so James, desperate for money, puts in motion a plan to relieve the museum of its collection of James Dove modernist paintings.
America is in the midst of the Vietnam war and some background news reports on the family’s TV provides the only other entertainment in this sleepy backwater. The languorous pacing and a jazzy score adds to the film’s droll charm about a well-educated man with feet of clay and a casual disregard for keeping his place in respectable society
The son of a judge and father of two, James is forced to live in his parents’ house but is too embarrassed to ask his father for cash so he turns to his long-suffering mother (Hope Davis).
The robbery has been meticulously thought out but James appears in no hurry to execute it, instead selecting a motley crew of mates who are entirely ill-equipped for the task. Not surprisingly, the heist goes spectacularly wrong after one of the accomplices pulls a gun on an unsuspecting teenage girl, so James is forced to go on the run leaving his wife Terri (Haim) and the kids in the lurch.
James’ escape route takes him north where he catches up with some old friends (Gaby Hoffman, John Magaro) and this interlude adds a further dimension to his personality allowing us time for refection on James’ lack of shame when turning to them for assistance, but there are no surprises until the satisfying finale.
With its grainy retro feel The Mastermind is a subtle slow-burner and a unique and intelligent addition to Reichardt’s earlier work with First Cow and Certain Women. The performances are thoughtful and the storyline has an understated tension that will appeal to her fans and offers a refreshing change from violent high octane heist thrillers. @MeredithTaylor
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2025