Rob the Mob

Directed by Raymond De Felitta, Rob the Mob follows a struggling couple (Michael Pitt’s Tommy and Nina Arianda’s Rosie) as they raise the ire of dangerous people after they begin robbing mafia social clubs. It’s a compelling setup that’s employed to watchable yet distressingly forgettable effect by De Felitta, as the filmmaker, armed with Jonathan Fernandez’s screenplay, delivers a lackadaisical and terminally subdued endeavor that rarely, if ever, becomes as compelling as one might’ve anticipated – with the picture’s arms-length atmosphere compounded by Chris Norr’s low-rent visuals and Stephen Endelman’s distractingly chintzy score. There’s little doubt, then, that Rob the Mob‘s extremely mild success is due predominantly to its inherently intriguing premise and raft of first-class performances, as, in terms of the latter, Pitt and Arianda’s terrific (albeit not entirely sympathetic) efforts are matched by a stacked supporting cast that includes Griffin Dunne, Ray Romano, Frank Whaley, and Andy García. (It’s clear that the movie is at its best in its off-kilter digressions, with, for example, everything involving Dunne’s oddball figure a continuing highlight within the proceedings.) By the time the predictably downbeat finale rolls around, Rob the Mob has confirmed its place as a decent-enough true-life tale that does feel like it could (and should) be significantly better.

**1/2 out of ****