Mob City

A pure-blooded genre piece, for the current times untraditionally languid. The casting is great and Darabont’s steady hand can be felt. Let’s see what else the cards reveal... So in the end they maintained the quality, even though nothing had me absolutely gobsmacked. Jon Bernthal is flawless, and the entire acting ensemble was perfectly cast. Knepper is on better form than he has been in a long time, Burns too. In story terms, rather flat, faithful to the old genre with an emphasis on detail (the nail in the window), that only becomes surprising if the viewer accepts the genre game and absolute trueness to a time when you could lie and killing was much easier to keep secret. I wouldn’t mind at all if they served us up another six-episode portion. (08.12.2013)

I think I’ve fallen a little in love. I noticed the series Mob City a few years ago, but I thought it wouldn’t be anything special. Since I was in the mood for a series, and especially a mafia one, I decided to give it a shot. Frank Darabont is simply an artist. He knows how to make a truly great film, and it doesn’t matter what genre it is, as he’s simply a master of his craft. Mob City can boast an excellent period atmosphere that breathes through every moment. Whether it’s the sets or even the fashion of the time, in some scenes, I genuinely got chills. I expected a story about Cohen, but instead, I got a plot centered around Benny Siegel. And for that, I’m only grateful. I didn’t even know much about Siegel before, so it was interesting to see what kind of person he was (not a very good one, to be honest) and what he accomplished in the mafia underworld. The shootouts are brilliant, a little rough around the edges, but they felt incredibly realistic to me. I also have to praise Bernthal, of course, but especially Robert Knepper. That guy can only play a gangster, it seems. The final removal of Siegel was the cherry on top of this series. Mob City clearly proves that television productions can sometimes surpass even full-length films. I’m just disappointed that we won’t be getting more seasons. For me, this series is a favorite of mine from this day onward. I give it 91%. (23.04.2017)