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The Mastermind
It’s not stealing if you don’t get caught.
In a sedate Massachusetts suburb circa 1970, unemployed family man and amateur art thief J.B. Mooney sets out on his first heist. With the museum cased and accomplices recruited, he has an airtight plan. Or so he thinks.
- Original title
- The Mastermind
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- $2,000,000
- Revenue
- $2,143,645
CinemaSerf
Nov 5, 2025 · via TMDB
I wonder if the Frenchmen who just raided the Louvre in Paris maybe had a sneak preview screening of this, first? It’s all about the struggling “JB” (Josh O’Connor) who has come up with a cunning wheeze to raise some much needed cash seeing as his architect skills aren’t exactly in demand. There’s a modern art gallery in their town where the security guard is usually napping, and where the paintings are relatively poorly protected hanging on the walls. He decides to purloin four of them and then sell them on… Of course, the best laid plans and all that and though the robbery itself doesn’t prove so difficult, his choice of fellow felons soon means that his identity is no surprise to cops and (other) robbers alike. He’s going to have to split else he, and quite possibly his wife and two boisterous children, are in trouble. This has got to be the most glacially paced heist movie I have ever seen, and though O’Connor delivers well enough, there simply isn’t enough plot nor is there anything much to do for anyone else as the film turns into a sort of busman’s travelogue before an ending that didn’t really sit so well with me at all. It does have a very authentic look to it and the two young siblings deliver quite enthusiastically but Alana Haim simply hasn’t got very much to do as his wife “Terri” and I felt it just fizzled out far too early in it’s all but two hours duration. I watched this on my own in the cinema which is maybe a little unfair to it, but as I left I wasn’t really that surprised. One for the telly, I’d say.
nicless42
Oct 14, 2025 · via TMDB
The absolute best thing you can say about this movie is that you will always know exactly what time it is while watching it. I have never looked at my watch more. In a movie named "The Mastermind" you'd be excused for expecting anything that required forethought. You would be disappointed. At best, the storyline of this movie was half completed before they gave up on it and just decided it was a good place to put some end credits. The music absolutely never matches the mood of the movie, and at one point you decide that the next time you see a person playing a drum set, you will in fact make them wear the snare drum. I've never been angry at background music before. This movie is beyond boring. Never see it. If someone suggests you watch it, stop being their friend.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Amazon Video
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Fandango At Home
Josh O'Connor
James Blaine Mooney
Alana Haim
Terri Mooney
Hope Davis
Sarah Mooney
John Magaro
Fred
Gaby Hoffmann
Maude
Eli Gelb
Guy Hickey
Cole Doman
Larry Duffy
Matthew Maher
Jerry the Driver
Rhenzy Feliz
Gordon
Bill Camp
Judge William Mooney
Carrie Lazar
Ms. Pitman
Reighan Bean
Julie
Katie Hubbard
Robin
Margot Anderson-Song
Helen
Deb G. Girdler
Museum Patron
Juan Carlos Hernández
Agent Carroll
Ryan Homchick
Coach Sam
Rick Dutrow
Thug
Kevin Michael Walsh
Cleveland Neighbor
Amanda Plummer
Louise
D.J. Stroud
Edward Farber
Jenny McManus
Cafe Patron (uncredited)
Greg Violand
Man at Bank (uncredited)
John E. Brownlee
Man Catching the Bus (uncredited)
Angel Kerns
Pedestrian (uncredited)
Ryan Lewis
"B" Camera Operator
Christopher Blauvelt
Director of Photography
Aaron Matthews
Stunt Double
Bryan McGowan
Stunts
Regis Harrington
Stunts
Scott Rudin
Thanks
Kelly Reichardt
Director
Max Drexler
Assistant Editor
Nat Jencks
Colorist
Kelly Reichardt
Editor
Dann Fink
ADR Voice Casting
Efe Çakarel
Executive Producer
Jason Ropell
Executive Producer
Zane Meyer
Executive Producer
Rob Mazurek
Original Music Composer
Ryan Billia
Supervising Sound Editor
Kelly Reichardt
Screenplay
Pauline
Was wir wussten - Risiko Pille
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Apocalypse Now
Taxi Driver
Some Like It Hot
Santa Santita
The Woman from Hell
Committed
Morituri
Flamin' Hot
Scent of a Woman
The Killing
Boogie Nights
Le Cercle Rouge
King Richard
The Bad Guys
Breaking the Waves
In the Name of Love
Ocean's Eleven
Boys Don't Cry
Prophet's Prey
My Father and My Son
Jackie Brown
Little Women
Voevoda
Deliver Us from Evil
Open Hearts
After the Wedding
Bed and Board
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum
Love on the Run
The Secret Life of Words
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Hunting Season
Coco Before Chanel
Brothers
XXY
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
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Still the Water
Mostly Martha
Mauri
Things We Lost in the Fire
Since Otar Left
Sunshine Cleaning
Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself
The Bigamist
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Slipaway
Maroa
Tommy
Radiance
Italian for Beginners
Half Baked
Heist
Japanese Story
Engel & Joe
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Farewell, Friend
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White Heat
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