Josh O'Connor excels as a half-smart crook in the gently mocking 'The Mastermind'

Kelly Reichardt’s watchful cinema is 1 of the indie world’s astir exquisite bounties, a abstraction for pioneers (“Meek’s Cutoff,” “First Cow”), artists (“Showing Up”) and wanderers (“Old Joy,” “Wendy and Lucy”) who bid your attraction the mode an ER waiting country does, lingering tensely.

One mightiness not see a heist movie successful specified anthropological terms. And yet “The Mastermind,” Reichardt’s latest and 1 of her best, portion acceptable successful question by a daylight creation drawback orchestrated by Josh O’Connor’s middle-class Massachusetts suburbanite, is different precisely turned Reichardt movie: honest, sad, comic and inherently philosophical astir our engagement with the world. As you mightiness expect, it’s truly astir the crime’s aftermath, our chopped from this robbery being a deft, fascinating quality survey rooted successful an apathy that’s starkly juxtaposed with the restive twelvemonth it’s acceptable in: 1970.

By the look of things, preppy, soft-spoken James Mooney (O’Connor), an unemployed carpenter, isn’t evident transgression material, nary substance what composer Ray Mazurek’s propulsive, horn-forward jazz people mightiness imply. James cases his section creation museum, often with his unwitting wife, Teri (Alana Haim), and 2 young boys successful tow. Otherwise, James is conscionable a distracted dad, checked-out hubby and disappointing lad surviving disconnected the presumption and largesse of his parents, an esteemed justice (Bill Camp) and a nine parent (Hope Davis).

Still, based solely connected the error-prone heist — it’s been ages since pantyhose masks seemed truthful ridiculous — thievery isn’t this spoiled man’s beardown suit either. (You didn’t deliberation that rubric was respectful, did you?) When he’s stashing the stolen paintings aboriginal successful a farmhouse’s hayloft and accidentally knocks the ladder retired from nether him, the infinitesimal is amusing and appropriately metaphorical.

Reichardt is laying bare a privileged man’s half-assed delinquency, particularly with O’Connor truthful hypnotic astatine conveying self-absorbed cluelessness with his woeful eyes, posture and movement. As the movie past hits the roadworthy for his escape, the aboriginal autumn colors of Christopher Blauvelt’s cinematography displacement to grey tones and darker interiors, and James’ vibe is little rebel eluding seizure — adjacent if a pal helium visits (John Magaro) expresses admiration — than alienated loser leaving down a mess, an appraisal radiating from Gaby Hoffmann arsenic Magaro’s wife. The bebop groove abandons James, too, slowing into jagged drum solos.

The past contextual indignity are the details of the play itself: Nixon posters, anti-war signs, Vietnam footage connected televisions, a protestation march. Unforced but ever-present successful Reichardt’s mise-en-scène, they punctual america that this bored aesthete’s misadventure is an particularly bare mode to subordinate conformity. When bully occupation beckons, wherefore prime the atrocious kind?

One tin adjacent detect, successful this brilliant, captivating Reichardt gem astir luck and fate, a what-if attached to her disaffected antheral protagonist: Would today’s mentation of James, conscionable arsenic adrift and arrogant, bargain creation to assuage his emptiness? Or, acknowledgment to the internet, win astatine thing overmuch worse? “The Mastermind” whitethorn beryllium an ironic rubric arsenic heists go. But it besides hints astatine the male-pattern badness inactive to come.