Film Review: THE MASTERMIND: Josh O’Connor Superbly Plays a Man Who Makes Poor Choices in Kelly Reichardt’s Drama [NYFF 2025]
The Mastermind Review
The Mastermind (2025) Film Review from the 63rd Annual New York Film Festival, a movie written and directed by Kelly Reichardt and starring Josh O’Connor, Alana Haim, Gaby Hoffmann, Jasper Thompson, Bill Camp, John Magaro, Hope Davis, Eli Gelb, Cole Doman, Carrie Lazar, Reighan Bean, Katie Hubbard, Margot Anderson-Song, Avery Deutsch, Juan Carlos Hernandez and Ryan Homchick.
Filmmaker Kelly Reichardt emerges with her most mature work to date with the wildly enjoyable slow-burn drama, The Mastermind. Josh O’Connor assumes the lead role of an unemployed carpenter named James Blaine Mooney who is asking his mom, Sarah (the terrific Hope Davis), to cut him a check to help him in his next attempt at making it big. Sarah reluctantly lends him the money but warns him not to tell his dad (played by the great Bill Camp). Set in the early 1970’s, the movie makes the Vietnam war a parallel to the events occurring in the film and one can juxtapose the presidency of Richard Nixon to the character O’Connor expertly plays here. Nixon said he wasn’t a “crook,” and James may not think he’s one either, but, unfortunately, he becomes one as the film unfolds through one fascinating plot detail after another.
This film opens with James stealing a small figure from a display while a security guard is present in a museum. It demonstrates that James could have the talent to pull off a bigger heist. Alana Haim excellently plays James’s wife, Terri, a working mom who struggles hard to be there for her family as James attempts to provide a better life in ways that probably won’t work out in the grand scheme of things. James makes the choice to attempt to steal four paintings of an artist named Arthur Dove. The actual heist, itself, is one of the highlights of the film with its absurdity that manifests itself throughout the actual process of James’s masked guys (played by Eli Gelb, Cole Doman and Javion Allen) taking the work from a local museum in the most haphazard way one could imagine, resulting in all hell breaking loose in every way possible.
Kelly Reichardt wisely develops James and his family as three-dimensional characters at the film’s outset, so we are invested in their lives right from the word “go.” Terri is a particularly sympathetic character as she suffers the most throughout the film being that her family’s livelihood and well-being is at stake for reasons that are beyond ludicrous. James needed to have a better plan than the one he had to prevent the authorities from closing in on him so the movie soon follows James as he flees in order to find a life that will grant him some sort of personal freedom.
James makes a stop to see his friend, Fred (John Magaro), who takes him in. Fred’s wife, Maude (Gaby Hoffmann in a stellar performance), ultimately gives James an ultimatum that could tear your heart out. Magaro as the easy-going Fred is quite intriguing here. Hoffmann’s Maude is sympathetic to a point until she realizes what has to be done to protect her own way of life. When Hoffmann tells James what she wants from him, it is truly one of the standout scenes in the movie and Hoffmann is amazing in terms of the bravery she brings to her character.
As the film makes its way into thriller territory towards the end, The Mastermind almost has us rooting for James to get away from the authorities. There are crowd scenes with protestors on the streets that add dimensions to the film and give it relevance to the time period in which the movie is set. Josh O’Connor doesn’t make his character sympathetic, yet it’s easy to root for him given his pathetic nature and the fact that he has a family dependent on him. When James makes a phone call to his wife, Terri, she asks him to hang up a couple of times. One may wonder whether the call is being traced or if Terri has simply given up on James. It’s a heartbreaking scene.
Jasper Thompson is effective as the young Tommy Mooney who asks questions that really can’t be answered in the world that James has grown accustomed to living in. O’Connor’s performance can break your heart and anger you at the same time. You want to root for him and slap him simultaneously. That is the special gift that Reichardt gives her audience. We can understand the criminal’s motivations and hate him for them, but we also understand that there may be room for empathy given the difficult situations the film presents to the viewer regarding James’s troubled life.
The Mastermind is a work of true depth and intense complexity. There is also the phenomenal last shot of the picture that truly stands out as it reveals the end result of the battle James faces versus the authorities. He fought the law, and you know how that song typically goes, but under Reichardt’s accomplished direction, you’ll be on pins and needles to see if James can triumph in an almost impossible situation. This is, quite simply, a film that is well-crafted and remarkably acted.
Rating: 8/10
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