Director Kelly Reichardt is on a great run, culminating with 2022’s Showing Up. So hopes were high for her latest, starring Josh O’Connor as 1970s suburban family man, James Mooney, living a double life as an art thief.
Billed as a heist movie, as you would expect from Reichardt, this is not a glossy, slick, Oceans style affair. True to the period, it is gritty and quite messy. At first, the title appears to be accurate as James identifies a museum with lax security and organises a heist of four paintings. But there was a major flaw in his plans and the police are almost immediately suspicious of him. Panicking, he goes on the run, without so much as a change of clothes and almost no cash. Crossing the country, he becomes increasingly desperate.
O’Connor is getting plenty of plaudits and rightly so, but it is Alana Haim who really impressed me as James’ wife, Terri. She does not have a lot to do, but her mere presence makes her a compelling figure.
I don’t think this ranks amongst the director’s finest work. Most of the lighter moments hit the mark and I enjoyed how it ends. But the plot meanders a little too much at times and there is a major geographical plot hole.
Rating: 7 out of 10