One of the joys of reviewing movies is witnessing a longtime filmmaker’s artistic breakthrough, as has happened with Kelly Reichardt. A serious director with a principled world view, she formerly eschewed style and flair as if they were sins, narrowing her aesthetic to fit the points of view that she conveyed in each film. But with “ Showing Up ,” from 2022, she displayed, for the first time, uninhibited cinematic pleasure, an unabashed delight in inventive observation and gratuitous beauty. This may be no coincidence, given that the movie is about two artists—one working small and exquisite, the other working big and flamboyant—and it gives both their avid due. Now with a new film, “The Mastermind,” Reichardt goes drastically further in many dimensions—dramatic, aesthetic, geographical,
Kelly Reichardt’s “The Mastermind” Reinvents the Heist Movie

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