The Mastermind (2025)
Genre: Crime
Duration: 110 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Kelly Reichardt
Stars: Josh O’Connor, Gaby Hoffmann and John Magaro
IMDb score:
6,3 (11.587)
Releasedate: 23 May 2025
The Mastermind plot
In 1970, Massachusetts is all about the Vietnam War and the emerging women's movements. It is against this backdrop that unemployed JB Mooney devises a plan to carry out a daring art theft. While carrying out the theft, he must take into account the major changes in social and political life.
Actors and actresses
JB Mooney
Terri Mooney
Fred
Sarah Mooney
Bill Mooney
Maude
Guy Hickey
Larry Duffy
Ronnie Gibson
Reviews & comments
mrklm
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- 11659 messages
- 10059 votes
To escape financial trouble, James [Josh O'Connor], with the help of Guy [Eli Gelb] and Larry [Cobe Goldman], steals four paintings by Arthur Dove. Incompetence throws a wrench in the works. It's hard to tell whether Reichardt had a comedy or a drama in mind, because it's neither funny nor exciting. Worse still, it's terribly dull, and Rob Mazurek's jazz score is just an annoying gimmick. Reichardt himself was the "mastermind" behind the dreadful screenplay. Only the portrayal of the year (1970) in which it's set is good.
Translated from Dutch · View original
De filosoof
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- 2490 messages
- 1702 votes
The film is about a clumsy art theft and an equally clumsy escape from the police by the "mastermind" behind it (which is probably meant ironically), but the lack of humor disqualifies it as a comedy, and the lack of tension or any momentum disqualifies it as a thriller. It's another postmodernist deconstruction of the heist movie, and the result is a complete void: the film is essentially as meaningless as the life of the loser in the film, and I'm afraid that's the point of the film, but such "modern" art is wasted on me. Or perhaps the point is that the thief in the film isn't concerned with politics and therefore misses the bigger picture, but that connection is so far-fetched that it doesn't make the film any more comprehensible. The jazz score is much more enjoyable than the film itself.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Knisper
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- 13042 messages
- 1280 votes
The reactions above aren't kind, but honestly, they never are with Reichardt's films. The point is, all of Reichardt's strengths are present: an incredibly good staging for this historical film (it's set in 1970 and absolutely everything is spot on, including the characters' behavior), very human and relatable characters (I especially liked the familiar face the main character runs by) and a nice, leisurely pace. And don't forget the freight train in the background. Like The Philosopher, I did miss the clue a bit (or thought it was strong enough), and the lead actor perhaps lacks the charisma to carry that final part completely.
The roof itself is hilarious, and it's funny that Alana Haim plays a major role in the same era again after Licorice Pizza.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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