‘The Mastermind’: A Spectacularly Unconventional Heist Film

Josh O’Connor stars as one of cinema’s worst art thieves in The Mastermind, an excellent 70s-set heist drama from Kelly Reichardt that deconstructs the genre while suggesting that selective curiosity about the world around you doesn’t equate to being wholly unaffected by it.

James ‘JB’ Mooney (O’Connor) has found a new purpose in life: thievery. He becomes obsessed with a set of Arthur Dove paintings at his local gallery, and soon plots a heist in broad daylight to nick the artworks while neglecting his wife Terri (Alana Haim), his kids and the state of America mid-Vietnam War.

Yet as expected of Reichardt, The Mastermind is far from a typical film of its genre. JB and his hired thieves take the paintings barely thirty minutes into the film, and the initial feeling of accomplishment soon nosedives into floundering as the walls close in around this not-so-masterful mind.

Alas, the joy of watching The Mastermind is a far cry from watching more obviously exciting heist flicks like Ocean’s 11 or The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. Reichardt is more interested in the character of JB and how he represents a deep-rooted sense of American apathy and incuriosity.

Josh O’Connor is splendid in The Mastermind

Frankly, JB is pretty pathetic. He doesn’t have a job and is pretty irresponsible with his family, yet seems to think he can thoroughly plan a flawless heist before the shadows of the day grow long. Even his motives for stealing the art are pretty threadbare besides his seeming infatuation with the works.

O’Connor is more than game for this deconstruction of the average heist film protagonist, making JB both intensely likeable and extremely frustrating to watch fumble his way through a criminal operation. Always a delight to see on screen, it’s fantastic to see O’Connor continue to cut his teeth on playing scumbags after last year’s Challengers.

Though it appears as a mere period piece flourish initially, the constant presence of the Vietnam War throughout The Mastermind adds to its sense of thematic depth. JB is rather unplugged from what’s going on while Americans fight overseas, occasionally catching a glimpse of horror on TV before continuing with his schemes.

However, it’s not until the final scene of the film that The Mastermind fully reveals its hand and weaves this horrible war into JB’s story. Reichardt’s ending is delightfully wry, and perfectly encapsulates how its protagonist’s ignorance is far from either blissful or admirable.

The entirety of the film is quite funny, too. Having written, edited and directed the film herself, Reichardt has total control over The Mastermind’s dryly funny tone as the tale of JB unfolds. There are some big laughs in this film, thanks to Reichardt’s snappy direction and a number of highly entertaining side characters played by actors like John Magaro and Eli Gelb.

A spectacular deconstruction of the heist film

It does mean the film is perhaps a tad longer than it needs to be, as the snappy pace that Reichardt sets could’ve likely been improved by a few strategic cuts. But Reichardt is such a master of creating place, and to occasionally meander in her beautifully simple rendition of 70s America is a consistent joy.

The quick-wittedness of the film is boosted substantially by Rob Mazurek’s phenomenal jazz score. It’s one of the best soundtracks of recent memory and is so key to The Mastermind’s success from the get go, coinciding with JB’s false bravado as he plans the heist and growing anxiety as it all falls apart. I really can’t imagine the film without it, nor without its warm film photography that evokes 70s cinema by Christopher Blauvelt.

By focusing on JB so much, it’s not too surprising that other characters in The Mastermind take a hit. Alana Haim is rather underutilised as Terri, arguably due to being neglected at the hands of our protagonist. I still found myself wishing Haim had more to do, as Terri doesn’t go much beyond the archetypal disapproving wife. To be fair, she has every reason to be so!

Alas, it hardly detracts from the sheer excellence on display throughout the rest of The Mastermind. Part-heist flick and part-character study, Reichardt’s film is a spectacular deconstruction of a very particular kind of man and the absurd lengths he’ll go to feel something.

★★★★

The Mastermind played at this year’s Sydney Film Festival, and will release in Australia later this year.