Mob Land's poster announces yes another of the hundreds of 'Geezer Teaser' films that were released straight to streaming in the past few years. An aging or former action star (who's usually in the movie for 10 minutes) on the cover holding a handgun.
However, lo and behold, this one is actually good!
The usual suspects from the recent Bruce Willis films are here. John Travolta, Stephen Dorff, Kevin Dillon. Travolta can elevate any material, and here he moves away from his recent more flamboyant outings and plays a subdued take on Tommy Lee Jones's character from "No Country for Old Men". Stephen Dorff plays the sociopathic killer, a man who observes the people inhabiting his hunting grounds with morbid curiosity, trying to rationalize his lack of empathy with a veneer of misanthropy.
Dorff is older now, grizzled with deep wrinkles and a deep raspy voice. Yet he maintained the combination of being handsome and menacing at the same time, which gives him the perfect look and demeanor to play a villain. And what a role this is. It's layered performance with well written lines, a far cry from the one note villains usually found in movies these days. I don't want to spoil his arc, but those final 15 minutes are great.
The plot on its surface is a small town neo noir, set against the backdrop of the opioid crisis and the decay of small town America. Two good ol boys get in over their head as they steal from the mob, and the mob sends a bad guy to fix the mess. But there are deeper themes running throughout to give you something to chew on.
The scene with Dorff and Travolta is suspenseful in the best Hitchcockian manner, while setting up the final confrontation. It's just three men talking, but we the viewers know there is a bomb under the table.
The music and cinematography were excellent. The soundtrack features some great Americana music, with the organ and violin theme being particularly haunting.
The film isn't perfect, and there were a few things that bothered me. The color grading is ugly. The entire movie has a dark green tint, which looks entirely unnatural. I get why they did it, they want it to feel noir and bleak, but a more naturalistic look would have worked better. And there is a ton of shaky cam, even in scenes where the camera isn't moving. I get it in action scenes, where it's shaky and disorienting during the scenes involving the rednecks who aren't used to killing, while calm, collected and in control during the villain's kills. That makes sense. But having the camera shake and tilt on a wide shot of two people talking in a standing truck is just stupid.
But overall, for a first time director this is a very impressive debut.
I hope we get to see more of Travolta and Dorff. Those two are among the best actors working today.
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