‘The Mastermind’ overview: Josh O’Connor is really magnetic in Kelly Reichardt’s newest movie

Ever wandered via a longtime artwork gallery and considered prying these precious masterpieces from the wall and working out the door, all in broad daylight? That is what Josh O’Connor’s character cooks up in The Mastermind. Nevertheless it’s not your complete story of Kelly Reichardt’s newest, with the author/director leaning on the artwork heist style to take a deeper look into the explanations behind such a choice — and observe a household man on the run throughout social and political upheaval in America.

Set in ’70s Massachusetts and loosely primarily based on the high-profile Worcester Artwork Museum theft, The Mastermind performs out such a state of affairs with charming realism, healthful comedy, and a wealthy, seductive rating. However its most beneficial asset is O’Connor, whose magnetic efficiency is as hilariously deadpan as it’s shifting.

The Mastermind plans a extremely cosy crime.

With a transparent pivot within the movie’s centre, The Mastermind is basically a narrative in two acts: the primary involving a farcical artwork heist frankly greatest left to skilled thieves, the second a rambling street journey via American cities, all tainted by the inescapable however delicate presence of the Vietnam Warfare.

As for the heist, Reichardt retains issues characteristically minimalist and as distant from Ocean’s 11 flamboyance as doable. We’re speaking no surveillance tech, restricted safety workers, and small-town cops on their lunch break. There are not any nail-biter safe-cracking scenes, no lasers to keep away from, no bait and swap. As a substitute of a motley crew of specialists pulling “one final job,” it is a trio of normal guys led by middle-class household man and unemployed carpenter JB (O’Connor). Together with his stylish and cool-headed spouse Terri (Alana Haim) and lovable younger sons (Jasper and Sterling Thompson) in tow, he circumstances the fictional Framingham Artwork Museum with the intention to steal 4 works by American modernist Arthur Dove. 

Every little thing about this comparatively cosy crime feels gentle and overtly autumnal, from Rob Mazurek’s mellow jazz rating to costume designer Amy Roth’s array of plush sweaters and cardigans, to the do-it-yourself pillowcases Terri sews to move the stolen works. JB makes use of paper maps to temporary his co-conspirators and fingers out superbly hand-drawn flashcards of the works they should steal. Cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt captures every scene with a nostalgic, low-contrast glow akin to the traditional ’70s film aesthetic of The Holdovers, and Anthony Gasparro’s manufacturing design is a crunchy-leafed suburban panorama of American modernist structure — and all of the wooden panelling that goes with it.

These flash playing cards.
Credit score: Mastermind Film Inc. All Rights Reserved

That being stated, there are some sharp edges right here as soon as actuality hits. Quietly assured he can pull off such a daring crime with ample preparation, JB unwisely places his religion in his skittish collaborators (Eli Gelb, Cole Doman, and Javion Allen), resulting in a bungled execution that’s each aggravating and comical to look at. Reichardt deploys slapstick comedy sparingly however successfully. At instances, The Mastermind even veers into Buster Keaton territory, particularly in one of many movie’s greatest scenes involving O’Connor’s dalliance with a barn ladder and the valiant purpose of loft storage. Reader, I cackled. In reality, O’Connor’s capacity to channel a Keaton-worthy deadpan stare continues all through the movie, one of many many delicate expertise the Historical past of Sound actor wields.

Josh O’Connor is a grasp of deadpan comedy in The Mastermind.

Eli Gelb, Javion Allen, and Josh O’Connor in “The Mastermind.”
Credit score: Mastermind Film Inc. All Rights Reserved

Although The Mastermind precedes the know-how by just a few a long time, O’Connor’s JB seems like personification of the deluded shrug man emoticon, assuring the folks round him (particularly his exasperated dad and mom, performed by Hope Davis and Invoice Camp) that every part’s going to work out. Regardless of the title of the movie, JB is much from a legal mastermind, regardless of one or two Frank Abagnale Jr. moments. Nevertheless, Reichardt is much less fascinated by following the flashy finesse of a grasp thief, extra within the string of life selections JB makes to try to present monetary stability for his household (and sure, a way of non-public accomplishment for himself). 

As a lot as The Mastermind provides O’Connor to play with, it sadly doesn’t bestow the identical alternative on his co-star, Alana Haim, whose position as JB’s spouse appears bizarrely restricted. Other than a quick spell of camaraderie throughout the planning of the heist, Terri is given little to do however glare and seethe at her bumbling husband, although Haim miraculously finds nuance and expression inside her allotted silence. JB fairly actually pleads along with his spouse to “say one thing” and specific her emotions. And whereas girls onscreen should not at all times be required to flip tables to talk their minds, Terri deserves extra characterisation than an alarm clock thrown offscreen.

Alana Haim in “The Mastermind.”
Credit score: Mastermind Film Inc. All Rights Reserved

The place The Mastermind does extrapolate a very marvellous character is in JB’s outdated buddy Fred, an absolute spotlight of the movie performed by John Magaro who’s jubilant at having his “thoughts blown” by his buddy’s extraordinary actions. The Previous Lives actor brings an excellent sense of levity and heat to the movie (and JB himself) when it is wanted, offset by the bristling disdain exuded by Fred’s accomplice Maude (Gaby Hoffmann). We’re not privy to each element of the connection between these three, with Reichardt leaving the viewers to fill in quite a lot of gaps for themselves. And that is half the magic of The Mastermind.

Kelly Reichardt leaves the viewers to piece collectively The Mastermind.

Vietnam Warfare-era America is omnipresent.
Credit score: Mastermind Film Inc. All Rights Reserved

Exhibiting no intention of tying The Mastermind up in a neat bow, Reichardt would not overexplain in her movie. Relationships between characters emerge slowly via dialogue; historic context is not shoved down our throats. However the omnipresence of the Vietnam Warfare is not possible to overlook.

The arrival of tv broadcasting sees JB’s father glued to the nightly information whereas our protagonist sweats in regards to the particulars of his hometown heist. Anti-war protests and demonstrations pepper the media and the streets on differing scales. This important second of political turbulence in America comes into sharper focus as soon as JB hits the street, the place he notices a naval officer on the Greyhound bus delivery out and sees younger pupil activists lambasted by older nationalists. The social and cultural shifts of the ’70s seep into the central narrative via offhand feedback; a dialog between JB and Fred mentions Canadian communes filled with “draft dodgers, radical feminists, dope fiends — good folks.”

It is Reichardt’s capacity to string such tempestuous historic context via comedy and the heist style that makes The Mastermind such a singular and endearing movie. And it is O’Connor’s magnetic efficiency that makes the movie a masterpiece of subtlety and deadpan humour. There are not any heist film archetypes right here, solely crunchy leaves, modernist artwork, and bumbling realism. It is a mixture well worth the steal.

The Mastermind hits cinemas Oct. 17 after exhibiting on the New York Movie Competition and BFI London Movie Competition.