John Travolta has always tended to find himself on the side of bad over the years. After his first comeback as Vincent Vega in PULP FICTION, a contrast to his star-making roles in the likes of GREASE and SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, Travolta went for the jugular in films like BROKEN ARROW and playing two sides of the coin in John Woo’s FACE/OFF, mimicking Nicolas Cage’s brutal villain punch for punch.
Travolta returns to the more moral high ground in his latest film, a rural crime noir written and directed by Nicholas Maggio, called MOB LAND. His character, a county sheriff by the name of Bodie Davis, is a watchful uncle to his nephew Shelby Conners (Shiloh Fernandez), husband to Caroline (Ashley Benson) and daughter Mila (Tia DiMartino, watchable). His friend Trey (Kevin Dillon) is a little more off-the-cuff and prefering to remain so out of the reach of lawmen like Bodie.
However, temptation to dare is never too far away – and a factor that leads Trey to convince Shelby to rob a local pharmacy where pills are traded for profit elsewhere. Unfortunately, those profits are not for their health, as a vicious mobster working for out-of-state reps, Clayton Minor (Stephen Dorff in true villain mode a la BLADE) is determined to have his pound of flesh, as well as the money….
The Coen Brothers a la BLOOD SIMPLE and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN shines a bright shadow on this watchable, if a little predictable, rural noir, bolstered by the presence of Travolta as a tough-but-fair lawman who is understated on occasion throughout the narrative. Both Dillon and Dorff, such consistent presences through the 1990s in the likes of BACKBEAT and THE DOORS amongst their filmography, provide excellent support and DiMartino has some brief but vibrant interaction with the adult cast.
MOB LAND may not have the level of subversion and twisty plotline as other films, but it is well worth a look.
MOB LAND is in select UK cinemas now.
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