The Mastermind (2025) MUBI/Drama-Thriller RT: 110 minutes Rated R (some language) Director: Kelly Reichardt Screenplay: Kelly Reichardt Music: Rob Mazurek Cinematography: Christopher Blauvelt Release date: October 17, 2025 (US) Cast: Josh O’Connor, Alana Haim, Hope Davis, John Magaro, Gaby Hoffman, Bill Camp, Sterling Thompson, Jasper Thompson, Eli Gelb, Cole Doman, Javion Allen, Matthew Maher.
Rating: *
Who’s the mastermind who greenlighted this turkey? I have many questions about the art heist drama The Mastermind, but that’s number one on the list. I want to know who I should blame for wasting two hours of my life.
Actually, I know who’s partly to blame for this dud. It’s writer-director Kelly Reichardt whose resume includes female-driven projects like Wendy and Lucy (2008), Meek’s Cutoff (2010) and Certain Women (2016). I don’t know what drew her to The Mastermind, but she should have resisted. It doesn’t take a genius to see she’s out of her depth with this dull as dishwater heist flick.
It should be noted that The Mastermind is only loosely based on the real-life robbery of the Worcester Museum in 1972. By that, I mean the names and other details have been changed. For example, the real-life crooks stole paintings by Gauguin, Picasso and Rembrandt. In the movie, they steal four paintings by Arthur Dove. In real life, a security guard was shot during the incident. In reel life, there’s just a scuffle. The list goes on.
The “mastermind” of the heist is one James Blaine Mooney (O’Connor, Challengers), a former art student and unemployed family man who perfectly epitomizes the term “loser”. The guy can’t do anything right. He’s especially bad at crime, but he’s too dim to realize it. He thinks he has it all planned out, but pretty much everything that can go wrong does go wrong starting with child care. James didn’t know his two sons were off from school that day so he’s stuck watching them. He has to figure out something to do with them while he’s “working”. Next, his driver (Doman) backs out at the last minute forcing James to take over that job. It’s all downhill from there.
Somehow James and his two dimwitted accomplices get away with the paintings, but it isn’t long before the cops show up at his house with questions. They know he did it. One of his accomplices (Allen) told them everything after he got busted for robbing a bank just days after the theft. The other one (Gelb) leads James into a trap involving some hoods who relieve him of the stolen goods. Realizing how screwed he is, James goes on the run where his streak of bad luck continues.
What is they say about life imitating art? That’s exactly what happens with The Mastermind. Anything that can go wrong does go wrong. For one thing, it’s a colossal bore. It moves slower than a snail on opiates. It’s a heist thriller with no thrills. It has the makings of a dark comedy, but it’s not the least bit funny. I think Reichardt might be trying to make some statement about America losing its way, but it doesn’t come through. The whole exercise is pointless.
Character development isn’t even an issue in The Mastermind. There is none. I didn’t get much of a read on anybody, especially James’ wife Terri (Haim, Licorice Pizza). What’s her deal? She’s unhappy, but is it only because of the family’s circumstances? I get the impression she has mental issues, but the movie never bothers to explain or elaborate. And what about their two young sons? The one without glasses could very well be on the autism spectrum, but it’s never explicitly stated. Then there’s James’ father (Camp, Sound of Freedom), a respected judge. You would think his reaction to his son’s actions would play some important part, but he disappears about midway through and is never seen or heard from again. I haven’t seen this many one-dimensional characters since I accidentally tuned into an episode of The Bachelor.
The script is a half-assed jumble with no rhyme or reasons. Reichardt fails to explain so many things. Like who is Maude (Hoffman, Now and Then) to James? I think she’s his sister, but I can’t be sure. Also, who exactly are the hoods who force James to hand over the paintings? Do they plan to sell the stolen art themselves? And how do they get recovered? Did these guys hand them in to collect the reward? I don’t know the answers to any of these questions. I don’t even know why I bothered to stay through the whole movie.
The only good thing about The Mastermind is the cinematography. It has the look and feel of a 70s movie which is fitting seeing that it’s set in the early 70s. The wintry setting gives it a palpable sense of despair and hopelessness. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t change the fact that The Mastermind is a horrible movie. Not only that, it’s an incompetent one. I literally could not wait for it to finally be over, but even that got botched with a frustrating ending in which nothing gets resolved. This is one of those movies I urge you to skip. It’s just not worth the effort.
