Josh O’Connor has been having a tremendous run throughout the 2020s, from his Emmy Award-winning turn as Prince (now King) Charles in The Crown to his lead role in the critically acclaimed Challengers (2024) and this year’s The History of Sound and Wake Up Dead Man. Not only does it seem that O’Connor is everywhere, but everything he is a part of is well-received by both audiences and critics. Kelly Reichardt has had a similar career trajectory, having been a critical darling for two decades, but breaking through with wider audiences in recent years. Her most recent films First Cow (2020) and Showing Up (2022) were incredibly well-received and considered among the best of their respective years. Reichardt’s newest movie, The Mastermind, follows James Blaine “J.B.” Mooney, played by O’Connor, who plans to steal from a museum during the height of the Vietnam War.
While Reichardt’s earlier films have distinctive styles and emotional weight, The Mastermind is dull and drab. Set in 1970, its environments are painted in muted browns and greys. The script moves at a sluggish pace, making it difficult to connect with or care about what’s happening. A fresh and exciting story might have redeemed it, but unfortunately, it’s just a surface-level heist movie with little to offer.
O’Connor is his usual charming self as Mooney, portraying a man at a moral crossroads. He wants to succeed in his heists, but must sacrifice his relationships with loved ones through lying, deceiving, and taking money. O’Connor ends up being the saving grace of a cast that is otherwise criminally underused. Alana Haim portrays Terri , James’s wife, but she’s relegated to the typical role of a spouse who is angry whenever her husband messes up. Her character is written sporadically, disappearing for large chunks of time, so one might question why she is included at all.
The best heist movies, such as Ocean’s 11 and The Italian Job, are full of charm and personality, and characters that you are rooting for. The Mastermind only has O’Connor to carry it, and while he’s as talented as ever, Mooney, is uninteresting and unlikable. He lies to his wife about what he is doing, he abandons his kids for work, and he takes money from his parents. There’s no reason to root for him, and O’Connor’s presence alone is not enough. It feels as if the best thing would be for him to get arrested so those around him can stop suffering by association.
The Mastermind is variation on a film we’v seen a hundred times, offering nothing new to say. Josh O’Connor does the best he can with what he is given, but it is an incredibly disappointing outing from Reichardt, especially after her previous films knocked it out of the park.
The Mastermind is now playing in theatres.
