Stanley Tucci Wasted in Amazon's Louvre Heist Masterplan

Stanley Tucci leads Amazon's heist thriller Masterplan as a British criminal mastermind attempting to steal the Mona Lisa from the Louvre — and, on the evidence so far, the film wastes him.

The premise sounds solid on paper. Tucci plays Roger, an English kingpin fronting a "family" of criminals in a plot targeting the Louvre's most famous painting. He is flanked by Victor Belmondo, grandson of Breathless star Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Simona Tabasco, the breakout of season two of Mike White's The White Lotus.

The Guardian's review, published alongside the film's release, delivers a blunt verdict: Masterplan is "pulpy and forgettable," a "smooth-brained heist caper" in which a performer at the height of his likability is stranded by the material around him.

Why the casting raised expectations

The last half-decade has made Tucci, in the Guardian's phrasing, "a source of near-inexhaustible on-screen delight." The receipts are concrete:

• Two cooking shows, Searching for Italy and its follow-up Tucci in Italy, both warmly received
• A smartly judged supporting turn in Conclave (2024)
• An appearance in The Devil Wears Prada 2

That run built a case for a genuine star vehicle. Masterplan, an art-heist caper with Tucci "at his most debonair," looked like the answer. The reviewer's judgment is that it is not.

What works, and what doesn't

The film is not without pleasures. The review finds "a good bit of pulpy fun" in the escalating betrayals — "double, triple and quadruple crossing" — and in spy gadgetry updated for the present, including retina scan cloning and something the film calls "VR intrusion."

Tucci, for his part, commits. As Roger, he sends up aristocratic English stereotypes, and the review preserves one line that shows the film's register: "I'm English," Roger says. "'Not bad' is what I say when I orgasm."

The caveat follows fast. The same review notes his character "often veers into parody" — the joke curdles on repetition. Pulpy fun is present; staying power is not. The word "forgettable" is the one that will follow the film.

What does this change for Tucci's career?

Nothing yet, and that is the point. One misfiring vehicle does not erase five years of goodwill, but it does confirm a pattern worth watching: streaming platforms keep handing prestige-bait actors high-concept genre packaging, and the packaging keeps letting them down. Belmondo and Tabasco, both early in their screen careers, absorb less damage than Tucci, whose lead-role case this film was meant to prove.

The full Guardian review offers the complete critical reckoning. Until Tucci's next project lands, Masterplan stands as evidence that a great actor, a famous painting and a Louvre setting still cannot guarantee a film anyone will remember.