Rob the Mob

Any movie that can make mishandling an Uzi with a touchy trigger seem almost cute can't be all bad, right? And the based-on-a-true story gangster drama "Rob the Mob" is certainly not a bad flick. The likes of Andy Garcia, Michael Pitt, Burt Young and Ray Romano pretty much guard against that.

I found myself laughing, wincing and damn near shedding a tear while watching this oddball odyssey about a young couple who get rich from, and revenge against, those who have it coming. And all the while giving little thought to the reality that there may well be hell to pay for sticking it up the wazoos of some chillingly bad wise guys.

The media didn't christen these crazy kids "Bonnie & Clyde" for nuttin', pal.

"Kid, you know where the f*ck you are? Yeah, I'm at 140 Union Avenue. I got the address right, right? Yeah, that's it. That's the address."

What a terrific movie. A film I've watched in amazement and where I was wondering all the time how for God's sake it could be possible that this has occurred in reality in New York in the 90s. Don't expect to see a gangster epos or something as similar as "The Godfather", simply because it's about the mafia. It's rather amusing at times, it's honest and it's, strange but true, extremely funny in a goofy way. I laughed out loud several times about the madcap situations Tommy and Rosie found themselves in (the first hold-up cracked me up).

This sympathetic, but not so clever and very naive, couple ensured that the Italian mafia didn't know what to do when someone suddenly started holding up clubs where members of the mafia gathered. First you see Tommy and Rosie as real crack addicts, committing a robbery at a florist. After their imprisonment (and apparently sobered) they decided to stay on the straight path and started to work for a collection agency that's run by someone who wasn't afraid to do illegal stuff himself in the past and who practiced the motto that everyone deserves a second chance in life. Until Tommy and Rosie realize that they are underpaid and supporting themselves will become very difficult. That's when Tommy comes up with the insane idea to rob the mafia. During the trial of mobster John Gotti, he diligently wrote down addresses of those famous clubs. And one additional benefit is that weapons are out of the question there ("Guns and wise-guys is a bad mix"). The idea to rob them is indeed brilliant because nobody gives a damn about that. Not the public opinion and certainly not the authorities. And the last thing the mafia will do is to contact the police to file a complaint against some unknown persons.

"Rob the Mob" is not a mafia movie par excellence with liquidations and bloody reprisals, opponents that are buried in concrete somewhere or an omertà being broken. Ultimately, the role of the mafia in this film is reduced to that of a bunch of retired veterans, only left with their reputation and subsequently two young people make them look foolish. The whole focus is on this touchingly couple in love. The way Michael Pitt and Nina Arianda give shape to these characters, is simply magnificent. Tommy is the gullibility itself and you can see him evolve from clumsy to recklessly. His motivation for these actions is fueled by what this intimidating gang did wrong to his father in the past (which is seen frequently during flashbacks). Rosie is a lovely girl that follows Tommy without hesitation in this reckless adventure. She looks so disarmingly innocent with an engaging big laugh that camouflages her intellectual deficiencies. Arianda's acting is fascinating. The two main characters complement each other perfectly and act very natural. Pitt apparently has a sense for quality films. I saw him shine in the movie "I Origins", which I thought was also an impressive film.

Besides the two main characters, a series of famous film stars appear in it, giving it the right atmosphere. There's Andy Garcia (Terry Benedict in Ocean's Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen) as the illustrious godfather "Big Al" from the Vazallo family. Complete with an impressive gray beard which makes him look more like a grandfather enjoying his old age. Ray "Everybody loves Raymond" Romano shows up as the columnist who plunges into the improbable story of "Bonnie and Clyde" after Rosie called him, to his surprise, to point out there's a flaw in his previous article. Griffin Dune plays the amusing role of Dave Lovell, the enthusiastic owner of the collection agency (delightful part). And the mafia members all played in some mafia-related film in the past. Michael "The Sopranos" Rispoli, Yul "American Gangster" Vazquez, Burt "Once upon a time in America" ​​Young (a 75-year-old bloke that can still throw in a solid punch), Joseph "The Sopranos" Gannascoli, John "Mob Queen" Tormey, Garry "The Sopranos" Pastore, Santo "The Sopranos" Fazio, Vincent "The Family" Riviezzo. They all ensured that the authentic feeling of an Italian mafia-family is convincing. I only missed a collective feast while all eating a homemade spaghetti with meatballs in tomato sauce made by an authentic Italian mama.

This surely is a must-see movie if you like a casual and clownish film. After "The Godfather" episodes there still have been successful and less successful attempts to portray organized crime. The best description I read found on the website "The Playlist": "De Felitta takes a true story that occurred in the early '90s, adds two energized leads, a pinch of bearded Andy Garcia and a screenplay that goes down like cold ice-tea on a hot summer day to cook up a nice little homage to the good ol' days.". But for those who know the real story of Thomas and Rosemarie Uva, it certainly won't be a surprising ending.

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It's 1991 NYC. Rosie (Nina Arianda) and Tommy Uva (Michael Pitt) are small time stick up armed robbers. They get caught robbing a florist. After 18 months, Rosie is working at debt collecting. He gets released from jail and she gets him a job at the agency. Tommy comes up with an idea to rob mafia social clubs which doesn't allow guns inside and everybody has lots of cash. He has issues with the mob getting rough with his father. Mob boss Big Al (Andy García) doesn't want to kill them with all the heat. Then they hit a joint that is being monitored by FBI Agent Frank Hurd (Frank Whaley).

This is a quirky little Bonnie and Clyde story. The acting is pretty good and the story is sort of interesting. The main thing missing is some intensity. Raymond De Felitta doesn't have the intense directing style. He's more of a quirky family drama guy. The couple has a few fun moments. The rest of the movie needs to be either much more funny or much more intense. Part of the problem is the lack of energetic music. This movie should have lots of fun period music. It could be a hilarious comedy or a dark intense period piece. This isn't much of either.

And by saying you're good, you're probably better than any of the characters involved. It's one of those things that "real-life" stories have issues with. It's tough to find anyone sympathetic in this one. Characters seem to be on the wrong side most of the times (at least those shown here).

While I wasn't familiar of the story itself and there might have been a couple of changes to make it more interesting for the general viewing public, this still has some very tough things to say. And as another reviewer already mentioned, do not think or put this near any Scorsese movies. The actors have a great time and it's nice seeing some of them, even if you could argue some are pigeonholed.

When a small time stick-up man attends John Gotti's trial he finds out that everyone goes unarmed at the Mafia social clubs. He and his girl friend start stealing from the mob.

Raymond De Felitta tackles a daunting task in his handling of Jonathan Fernandez's script. None of the characters is the least bit appealing at the beginning of the movie. The leads are selfish and stupid, Ray Romano's reporter is just in it for the story and Andy Garcia's crime boss seems a murderous enigma. Yet by the end of the movie, they are all sympathetic characters caught up a mess they have no control over.

A kind word should also be offered to Chris Norr for his fine cinematography. The street scenes, mostly shot in northern Queens, are hideous yet illuminating.