150 Word Review: 'The Mastermind' (2025)
A man with a plan
The poet Robert Burns wrote, “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley,” a line of verse that describes Josh O’Connor in director Kelly Reichardt’s small-time crime drama The Mastermind. He’s the title character who, unfortunately for him, is more rodent than human. The suburban world O’Connor’s character inhabits is quaint, almost cozy, populated by nice, simple people. He’s an outlier.
Set in the late ’60s, The Mastermind is a portrait of a loser, a well-born young man with dreams of easy money. He has a plan: steal four works of abstract painting from a sleepy little local art museum. O’Connor is a charming dirtbag, a natural-born con artist. He’s obsessed with himself. Meanwhile, in the background, other men and women his age march against an unjust war. Like most of Reichardt’s minimalist movies, The Mastermind is cold to the touch, but there’s warmth underneath the skin.