Mob Land

Checked this one out because of the 'heavyweight' cast, but sad to report the script and screenplay don't match the talent on show.

A badly aging John Travolta headlines with typical aplomb as a smalltown redneck sheriff, with Matt's bro Kevin Dillon also putting in a decent turn as the film's pivotal catalyst to disaster. However, it's the oft underrated Stephen Dorff who steals the show as a New Orleans mafia enforcer. Dorff is off the hook and carries his weighty bad guy role with typically sinister yet cool-calculated nastiness. He will keep you watching if nothing much else will.

The story itself however is a letdown. It's slow, lacking in tension, originality and continuity, while you really have to shake your head at Travolta's continual failures to connect the dots.

On the plus side there are some decent shootouts, driving scenes and reasonable character development, but the bottomline is this is a rather predictable, low-budget b-movie that fails to ignite, or be quirky/original enough to push it into 'cult' movie territory like an early Cohen Brothers flick for example.

In summation then a one-watch rainy night film at best. Y'all come back now y'hear...

Travolta's the headliner, but Stephen Dorff, to my way of thinking, was the lead and most interesting character and did a tremendous job as the heavy.

The story wasn't amazingly original and could even be called cliched, but it was interesting enough to keep me interested for a few hours which is more than I can say for a lot of the post-COVID films I've seen.

Brief synopsis: Travolta's a Sheriff, Kevin Dillon and some dude I've never heard of are thieves who stole from the wrong bunch for the wrong reasons, and Dorff is the mob's "avenger" sent to get revenge on the thieves.

Good acting all around, decent story, and overall entertaining.

A film we have seen a variation of a bunch of times, it really never gets old, if done well. Similar to No Country for Old Men, this time in Georgia and with a cast that mostly drags this out a bit much. Fortunately there are some interesting settings and set pieces that are a bit out of the norm and add a level of realistic grime, such as all the worn out vehicles still on display. There are really no protagonists here to get behind, but I liked Stephen Dorffs character and performance the most. His script was on the nose for the character, and although predictable, seemed the most convincing. Good show, but has some odd plot holes scattered around and then also the camera work was a little too hand-held for my personal taste. Im not big on wobbly/shaky frames, even if because it has to be done on the cheap.

More of a character study than a tense, pedestrian thriller that owes a heavy debt to No Country For Old Men in its atmosphere, scope and microscopic detail of small town life.

The change of Stephen Dorff's character to help our protagonist seemed rather too abrupt and underwritten that didn't make much sense and if you've seen the aforementioned 2007 film you certainly wouldn't want to see this.

Nonetheless, it's well acted by the muscular cast , has decent cinematography makes most of its low budget origins and has a sympathetic character in John Travolta.

It won't win prizes for originality for passes for a passable time killer.

I really wasn't expecting to enjoy this indie B-film as much as I did, but thanks to the great casting and excellent performances, this turned out to be an enjoyable little gem. No, it's not perfect, and as much as this type of story has been done many times before, new filmmaker Nicholas Maggio got more things right that overshadowed most of his rookie filmmaking mistakes, and that managed to make this film, his own. In his first ever writing and directorial debut, Maggio created an engaging atmosphere with constant intrigue and suspense, enough to keep me watching and occasionally forgetting to breathe. This film was gritty and thrilling with some sharp dialogue, enough to pay homage to the independent top crime films of the past.

Aside from just a few plot issues, the pacing could've been a little faster and the 111 min runtime could've used at least 10 mins of trimming. The shaky cam at the start was too obvious and annoying, but got better (or I got used to it) as the film progressed. Nevertheless, for a first time filmmaker, Maggio directed his entire cast perfectly, had a decent score and soundtrack (not the usual loud, overbearing and unfitting score that's typical in every B-film), good cinematography, and kept a constant and effective tone and atmosphere throughout the entire film - a feat that even some seasoned filmmakers sometimes can't get right.

This film is certainly no 10/10, but underserving of anything under a 5/10. As an independent B-film, it's a solid watchable and recommended 7/10 from me, plus the extra bonus star that this was put together by a first-time filmmaker - I mean they have to start somewhere, right, and if this is Maggio's first ever film, I'm excited to see what he comes up with next. Mad props to him and all the crew and cast that helped pull and keep this together - you can tell the top actors weren't there just for the paycheck. To see how I rate and review films, click on my username, and you'll also see more of my 1,700+ reviews and 3,000+ ratings.