When a human being plans a heist involving paintings, God laughs and finds ways to ruin said plans. This is what happens in Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind with J.B. Mooney (Josh O’Connor) as the titular art thief. The day of the heist coincides with a Teacher Appreciation Day which closes the schools in Farmingham, Massachusetts. So he has to find a way to keep his sons busy before he gets his two accomplices (he originally has three). Now that that’s out of the way, he has to find a place to hide the four abstract modern paintings. And because no criminal is an island, one of his accomplices starts talking to mobsters who want the art.

This is Reichardt’s second heist film, the first one (to memory) being Night Moves starring Jesse Eisenberg. There are obvious similarities between The Mastermind and that one, specifically when it comes to specific dialogue. Dena Brauer (Dakota Fanning) from Night Moves talks bout fertilizer like J.B. does with furniture building. In both instances, both characters use their knowledge base to bamboozle the other characters talking to them. The dialogue also shows the intersection between the working class and the criminal class but in good ways. It’s a twist to a trope in most heist films that centre around a character who knows how to feed others their BS.

Unlike Night Moves‘ sad vibes, The Mastermind shows crime within a comedic lens, surprising from Reichardt. The actual heist has things, again, going wrong or slowly, like the henchmen having to roll down the car window. Reichardt uses comedy to reinforce the idea that some things during the 70s are equal parts easy and difficult. That’s fine and everything but I do have some major issues with the execution of the final product here, visually. The night scenes, like when J.B. hides the art in a pigpen, and is difficult to look at. Other critics wrote about how it under-utilizes actors, especially Alana Haim and John Magaro, and I agree with that sentiment.

Nonetheless, as a former art history major (got my degree lol) and a bum, I can relate to The Mastermind a lot. It’s an interesting character study of a man who thinks he’s not being selfish even if he can do more for others. Sure, for instance, he packs his wife Terri’s (Haim) bags so she doesn’t deal with the fallout of his criminal act. But he could also not steal art and get the job because he promised his mother (Hope Davis) that he’s getting it. Lay viewers are over hating the pacing and I didn’t mind that here – Manhola Dargis already defended slow films. What happens within this jaunty stroll of a film and how Reichardt films it is passable in its delights.

The Mastermind is available to watch in select Canadian theatres.