Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: THE MASTERMIND [Cannes Film Festival 2025 - Cannes, France]
A heist film, even about less than enlightened individuals, usually has a sense of necessity versus simple ego. Director Kelly Reichardt did well with "First Cow" filtered in respect to her leading man John Magaro and interesting time period. has an essence of path despite how it turned out. In "The Mastermind" [Competition], Josh O'Connor plays JB Mooney who seems to have what he should want in life: wife and kids (despite a condescending father and few job prospects) but feels a pull to be a robber of sorts even though he has no tact or planning skills. He might be rebelling against the system for a certain reason but it is sort of a life destroyer. The whole affair is supposed to show how haphazard his life is but ultimately the character is not really empathetic because he is an idiot. O'Connor had so much more in his other festival entry in "The History Of Sound". Here, and through no fault of his own...it is more with the script, Mooney is aimless without a plan. Alana Haim who lit up the screen in her scenes in "Licorice Pizza" is relegated to the wife role with again not much to do except glare at Mooney after he does something dumb.
The film is set in the 1970s but not for much other reason than to make the heist in its analog though pliable Now perhaps this is Reichardt's approach to character in this movie but the lead character just does it all wrong from his friends to his plan to his approach to his general outlook. His comeuppance makes sense in the end and that is part of the irony but it just doesn't track very well. The story is clear but not engaging. The only bright spot is when Mooney visits one of his friends randomly. John Magaro in this brief scene and his reaction to his friend gives the film a sense of levity because maybe the whole point is that no one ever expected anything of his guy in the first place. Mooney is solvenly, adrift and aloof. He thinks of himself as smart but obviously not. Magaro's character is the same but he is content. The farm is his home and he is alright with thta. The wife of Magaro's character offers a bit of foreboding to Mooney though which sets up the corner he gets drawn into. The heist in question in terms of execution and pay off seems to push by the wayside with characters that aren't really totally introduced...and quickly disappear. "The Mastermind" of course as a title and a character is a misnomer but it just doesn't click in the way it would like to. C
By Tim Wassberg
