It is 1970. The domino impact of Could ’68 has barely begun; protests are rampant. Faculty college students have been arrested en masse for opposing the conflict in Vietnam, the affect of second-wave feminism has reached its apex, and drug use is a political act. It’s a time by which staying impartial is nigh-on inconceivable. And but, for Josh O’Connor’s JB Mooney (Challengers), an absence of ambition each professionally and politically is a defining attribute. As an alternative, he plots to rob a recent artwork museum in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind just isn’t a heist movie, however one dressed up as such. It’s a automobile for her political didacticism. Can anybody actually keep out of politics, or is neutrality a nefarious delusion?
The Mastermind Is An Indictment Of Political Avoidance
By means of her exquisitely managed character dramas and bucolic cinematography, Reichardt (Exhibiting Up) has made a reputation for herself as a cinematic poet laureate of the Pacific Northwest. Impressed by the 1972 heist of the Worcester Artwork Museum, by which work have been lifted at noon, Reichardt’s focus shifts throughout the nation to the autumnal haze of Jap Mass. JB is a father with two sons and a loyal spouse, Terri (Alana Haim, who is usually wasted), however he’s in any other case adrift. Reichardt methodically doles out key details about her protagonist in an nearly offhand method, a few of which is not revealed till the ultimate moments.
By doing so, JB comes throughout as a person whose high-risk theft appears motivated by his lack of motivation as a lot as the rest. His object is 4 summary panorama work by Arthur Dove, who is essentially thought of to be the primary American summary artist, and whose God-like presence within the movie acts as a counterweight to JB’s distinct lack of ambition. But, his artistry is clearly current: he attracts the 4 work from reminiscence onto postcards for his lackey, Ronnie (Javion Allen), to review, earlier than they commit the theft in query.
It is not simply the why of the theft, however the how of the post-theft that Reichardt retains at arm’s size. With out figuring out who the perpetrator is, JB’s father Invoice (Invoice Camp), a domestically revered decide, remarks over a household dinner that he cannot perceive how somebody would anticipate to extract riches from such an act. And neither can we. When straight requested by Ronnie, his getaway driver, Larry (Cole Doman), or by his muscle Man (Eli Gelb), JB is elusive and cagey. Terri appears to be considerably conscious of her husband’s actions, however not sufficient that she, or we, would possibly glean any intel.
We’re each in his POV and but faraway from any intimate data. This precarious balancing act factors to somebody who’s as a lot a thriller to us as he is perhaps to himself. And the movie is filled with ironic humor.
Cornettist Rob Mazurek supplies the movie with an aleatory jazz rating, at instances menacing, at instances sensual, which suggests a a lot cooler operation than JB is definitely operating. Within the second act, the identical music looks like creeping hassle and the duty JB has tried to shirk. When the theft in query occurs, a schoolgirl meanders by the gallery practising her French with phrases like “ennuyeux”, “dépravé”, “factice” (boring, wicked, pretend).
Although JB protests that he has given all of it lots of thought, he would not have the cash to entrance the operation and subsequently has to ask his mom, Sarah (Hope Davis), for an advance for a pretend design job. His workforce appears haphazardly thrown collectively, with point out made from Ronnie’s wildcard nature, and each Larry and Man clearly reticent to tackle one thing so shrouded in thriller. Although JB’s perspective appears collected, the sense of creeping dread and inevitable failure pulsates by the opening act till the whole lot, inevitably, falls aside.
By means of the interval and style trappings of a Seventies heist movie, Reichardt explores the inherent isolation of staying impartial at a time of ballooning cultural and political unrest.
In JB’s protection, the job does seem to be it is perhaps straightforward. There’s a perpetually asleep safety guard manning the room in query and just one different that we see, by the door, aloof. When Man and Ronnie are within the midst of taking the work, an outdated couple assumes it’s only a scheduled cleansing. There is a silliness to the mundane. However issues do go fallacious, particularly after Ronnie refuses to put low, robbing a financial institution at gunpoint and instantly naming JB because the titular mastermind when pressed.
It is within the again half of the movie that Reichardt, who writes, edits, and directs all of her movies, reveals her thematic hand. With the world taking place round him, JB reveals himself as a nothing. The title, too, is ironic. JB is not any grasp of something, actually, besides dodging. With peace activists on one hand, and white conservatives on the opposite, JB tries desperately to remain out of issues.
When he decamps to the nation residence of Fred and Maude (John Magaro and Gaby Hoffman, respectively), he’s supplied a ticket over the border to a commune, the place he would undoubtedly be secure. There are “draft dodgers, radical feminists, dope fiends… good folks,” Fred gives. However JB refuses. It is not his scene.
The movie is exquisitely shot. The ambiance suggests the period-specific work of artists like Stephen Shore. In interiors, Reichardt and cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt shoot JB by door frames, home windows, curtains and the like, as if to always point out the isolation of somebody who cowardly avoids actuality. In a single scene, as JB hides out in a boarding home outdoors Cleveland, JB notices a neighbor watching Walter Kronkite speaking about Cambodia; in one other, whereas ready for a bus, a military recruitment poster is clearly lit on a again wall. However, snake-like, JB tries to flee all of it.
By means of the interval and style trappings of a Seventies heist movie, Reichardt explores the inherent isolation of staying impartial at a time of ballooning cultural and political unrest. She sees the parallels with right this moment and exploits them by the lens of somebody whose expertise and appeal belies a wayward resignation. Maybe JB is overwhelmed by all that he would possibly do if he put his thoughts to it. However, regardless of the case, there’s solely so lengthy you’ll be able to run earlier than you get caught up in one thing. Everybody does, ultimately.
- Launch Date
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October 17, 2025
- Runtime
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110 minutes
- Director
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Kelly Reichardt
- Writers
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Kelly Reichardt
- Producers
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Anish Savjani, Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino
