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★
Written and directed by Liam Galvin Starring Robin Reid, Yvette Rowland, Jason Marriner & Jeff Stewart Indie Film Review by Hannah Sayer
Liam Galvin’s vigilante drama Mob Handed is his second film after the controversial 2010 film Killer Bitch. The film garnered a great deal of publicity during filming as it was reported to contain graphic scenes of violence and extreme sexual content, which turned out to be exaggerated. Following on from this controversy, Galvin chooses to dismiss previous criticism for his work and makes Mob Handed: a rather dull and bland affair with moments of extreme vulgarity and violence which don’t drive you to carry on watching.
Mob Handed follows the story of a female journalist who joins a vigilante group after her daughter is murdered. Yvette Rowland plays the mother who feels let down by the law and the justice system, so she chooses to join the gang to track down her daughter’s killer. There are only very minor and brief glimpses of anything promising in this production. If handled more expertly, there could have been greater significance placed on the film as a commentary on the press and how shocking crimes committed by paedophiles are good for ratings. However, this revenge tale feels stunted by weaknesses across all areas.
The film opens with stating ‘welcome to madness’ and it is this that resonates throughout as you are witnessing the messy and far from enjoyable narrative unfold. The weak acting from each cast member contributes to the dull tone of the film as each scene never feels like anything more than the actors reading from a script causing the end result to feel lifeless. However, the actors don’t seem like they are given much to work with. The shots of the gritty, urban London setting are potentially the only attractive aspect of the production, but even these moments don’t seem to flow effortlessly within the rest of the narrative. There is no sense of resolution or reward for the viewer after sitting through over an hour and a half of mind numbing violence and tedious acting.
Mob Handed will only likely to appeal to a select few as it’s far from accessible and it is hardly an indie film to rave about.
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