Film Review: Randy and the Mob

I saw a screening of the movie, Randy and the Mob at the Austin Film Festival on Saturday. It's a pretty funny southern comedy by Ray McKinnon. If you're not familiar with him, he's best known as a director for a short film called The Accountant, but he's had a pretty successful career as a character actor. He played Vernon Waldrip (Holly Hunter's new fiance) in Oh Brother Where Art Thou. He also had a role on the HBO Series Deadwood, as Reverend Smith.

This movie is set in the south, and it makes fun of some standard southern stereotypes that are often funny, but only appreciated by southerners when another southerner is the one poking the fun. Fortunately for McKinnon, he's from Georgia, so he's securely in the make fun of the south with impunity club. As far as the plot goes it's pretty much a standard man gets into distress, gets out of distress and undergoes a transformation in the process plot line. The story is well put together, but it's really a vehicle to showcase the characters. McKinnon plays two roles, Randy, and his gay brother, Cecil. He really does a great job with both characters. Walton Goggins (best known for the role of Shane Vendrell on the TV series, The Shield) plays the most unusual character, a mobster named Tino Armani. This performance is almost robotic and devoid of emotion, yet this character has the majority of the most insightful and revealing lines in the movie. It's certainly not a believable portrayal of a normal human being, but if you can suspend disbelief, the robotic deadpan performance is an enjoyable addition to the movie.

If you're in the mood for Bergman or Kubrick, this isn't the right choice, but if you just want to relax and laugh a bit without thinking too much, I would recommend this movie to anyone. I think it has a bit of a Coen brothers type feel to it. Hopefully, you guys will have the opportunity to see it sometime soon. In the Q&A, the director said that he does have distribution, although right now it is limited to Georgia. I'm sure it will show up at your local independent theater or artsy movie rental joint sooner or later.