The Mastermind

In a sedate corner of Massachusetts circa 1970, James Blaine Mooney (Josh O’Connor) is an unemployed carpenter who has yet to live up to the expectations of his middle-class upbringing. With his eyes on easy money, Mooney plots his first big theft with a ragtag group of local buddies to steal a series of abstract paintings from a small regional museum. But things don’t go exactly as planned, and Mooney finds himself in one mishap after another, as both his personal and professional life unravel.

Like director Kelly Reichardt’s previous films Night Moves and Meek’s Cutoff, The Mastermind reinvents genre yet again, here reshaping the heist movie into a study of the unforeseen consequences of one man’s bad decisions and lack of self-awareness. Enhanced by a percussive ‘70s-inspired jazzy score, as well as O’Connor’s skillful performance as the vain and blundering so-called “mastermind,” this amusing low-key drama is also one of Reichardt’s wittiest films. Beneath its dry humor lies a biting and timely satire about class, privilege, and the denial of responsibility.

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