The Mastermind: A Wandering Crime Drama with Untapped Potential (Blu-ray)

The Film:

Hot on the heels of "Crime 101," here we have another crime caper of a completely different sort with "The Mastermind." Coming to us from writer/director Kelly Reichardt, whose name you may remember from such films as "First Cow," "Night Moves," and "Wendy and Lucy," it attempts to approach the sub-genre from a slightly different angle in order to give us a single-focus, character-driven outing, while toning the excitement factor down considerably. Having been around since last year, there's been plenty of time to see that this is another fascinating instance where critics and audiences disagreed quite a bit on this intriguing approach, with the former lauding the film and the latter being less than impressed. Could this also be another instance where the public did a better job of judging the film, or is it simply a case of a film being too arty for the audience to appreciate?

Taking place in Massachusetts in 1970, we primarily follow an out-of-work carpenter named JB Mooney (Josh O'Connor), who has come up with a plan to steal four paintings from a local gallery with accomplices Larry (Cole Doman), Guy (Eli Gelb), and Ronnie (Javion Allen). Although Larry backs out, the other three are able to complete the heist, but shortly after, Ronnie makes the foolish mistake of trying to rob a bank, for which he gets arrested. After Ronnie names JB as the mastermind of the art theft, he is forced to leave his wife (Alana Haim) & two sons (Sterling Thompson & Jasper Thompson) behind and go on the run. With his picture appearing in papers everywhere, he must find shelter wherever he can as he attempts to deal with his desperate situation.

Reichardt's take on crime drama is indeed a different animal than what most filmmakers deliver when taking a stab at this type of film. Hers is one that takes a more dramatic look at the planning, execution, and consequences of the crime, while taking very little interest in glamorizing it or filling it with thrills, which perhaps begins to explain why audiences weren't nearly as taken with it as critics were when it released last year. However, as viewers soon discover not too far into Reichardt's latest project, it would appear that another issue took hold that, when coupled with the aforementioned lack of thrills, would seem to give us an even more clear reason for the somewhat cold reaction.

Starting from the beginning, "The Mastermind" seems to set itself up rather well as a potentially strong heist flick, giving us a desperate, out-of-work man who thinks he's found a somewhat easy way to make some money. The job itself is rather quick and mildly exciting, but doesn't present anything too extreme, putting these paintings into their possession pretty easily. It even has a decent twist that shakes everything up, one that could take it in any number of fascinating & compelling directions.

However, this is unfortunately where the entire story gets away from Reichardt completely, for instead of taking one of those compelling directions, she instead has her main character wander about, going from place to place as he tries to find somewhere to hide. This has him staying with some old friends, then attempting to reconnect with others in a different city, before ultimately ending up hiding in an apartment by himself. There's a kind of ironic ending thrown in for kicks, but it does nothing to make up for the lack of development that most of the film suffers from. Not having any thrills included is fine, but only if you have something that's going to make up for it in terms of advancing the plot & characters.

In the end, we see that Reichardt had the start of an intriguing idea, but simply didn't know where to take it. Having her main character just drift about for most of the film's runtime was clearly not a great direction to go, making it no surprise that the film basically came and went without making much of a splash, even though it played in competition in Cannes last year. If anything, the film is a testament as to why it's so important to be sure that you're able to follow through on an idea, for if you have any doubt, it can lead to the project just aimlessly meandering about with no firm destination in mind. There was certainly potential here, but much like JB, it simply had nowhere to go.

Video/Audio:

"The Mastermind" comes to Blu-ray in a 1.78:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of mostly decent quality. The film was purposely shot with a specific kind of digital camera to give it a soft, grainy look, so it being a little unfocused was intentional. It may not have been the best decision, but with that being the aim, they certainly achieved it. On the other hand, the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is outstanding, giving you all of the dialogue & music in excellent quality. Overall, while the deliberate choice in picture was a little iffy, Mubi did a fine job in both areas when bringing it to Blu-ray.

Special Features:

The Mastermind: Unwinding the Heist Film (14 Minutes): A video essay that breaks down the film.

Conclusion:

Kelly Reichardt's "The Mastermind" has a fair amount of potential as it sets up its intriguing heist tale that has its main character forced to go on the run, but it sadly loses its way rather quickly as it becomes quite clear that Reichardt simply didn't know where to take the story after that, ultimately leaving us with a forgettable crime drama that does little more than drift along with its wandering criminal.

Score: 2.5/5

Now available on Blu-ray.

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