And the Oscar Goes to . . . Men Not at Work
Our male protagonists — or perhaps men more broadly — are searching for meaning, solace, or glory anywhere but in the workplace. The trend represents a collective ambiguity about the point of work.
The leading men of this year’s Oscar films aren’t climbing ladders or running boardrooms. They’re quitting, slacking off, and searching for meaning anywhere but on the job — reflecting a real modern crisis over what work is even for. (A24)
What’s a better way for a man to spend his time: building a successful business or pursuing a delusional scheme of self-destruction? In Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind, supposed carpenter James Blaine “JB” Mooney (Josh O’Connor) is confident of the answer to this one. At his parents’ house for family dinner, JB’s father Bill Mooney tries to agitate him with news of a peer’s thriving business.
Bill: He’s the boss of his own outfit. Tells the whole team what to do.
JB: He spends all his time balancing books, scheduling, on the phone.
Bill: Those are the tasks of the top man.
JB: It’s an idiotic way to spend your time.
It’s not long before JB kicks off a shambolic museum heist that unravels his life.
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