Rob the Mob opens with a robbery, but not the perilous kind the title suggests: In early 1990’s New York, Tommy and Rosie (Michael Pitt and Nina Arianda, both delivering terrific turns), a frantic, foul-mouthed young couple, botch a barely thought-out flower store stick-up, earning Tommy a ticket to jail for 18 months. Rewind to moments before the failed heist: The thieving lovebirds fall into a heated spat in the car because Rosie chose to bid her man good luck with a classic “I love you!”, last words Tommy considers a bad omen. But it’s that very love–that fevered passion that drives them wild–that defines them.

The film is based on the true story of Tommy and Rosemarie Uva, a boroughs-bred Bonnie and Clyde who were fixing to get rich quick by stealing from the only folks in the city who would never call the police: The Mafia. Director Raymond De Felitta, who’s got a proclivity to profiling life in New york (Two Family House, City Island), loosely adapts the Uva’s New York robbing spree to great success. It’s a relentlessly entertaining take on reckless love and domestic mob life, presenting tried-and-true themes and motifs in creative ways that make it all feel fresh again. Clever writing and killer performances (particularly the young leads) solidifies Felitta as a great Big Apple storyteller.

Following Tommy’s stint in the slammer, he reunites with Rosie to find that she’s straightened up, landing a secure job at a collection agency under perpetually cheery boss Mr. Lovell (Griffin Dunne). She convinces Lovell to hook Tommy up with a job as well, but Tommy’s distracted at work as he’s become enamored with the John Gotti trial, which he goes so far as to skip work to attend himself. While at the trial, he notices a testifying mobster mention that guns are forbidden at Mafia “social clubs”. Barely getting by on Mr. Lovell’s measly paychecks, he and an initially leery Rosie kick off a spree of wise-guy shakedowns that, to their surprise, actually yield some big-time dividends.

The social club stickups are wildly varied, each permeated by a sense of unpredictability. Tommy, armed with an Uzi he doesn’t know how to use (Rosie has to teach him how to load it in a funny moment), isn’t taken seriously by the mobsters at first (they get a good laugh out of the kid’s foolhardy audacity), but they’re eventually forced to comply when Tommy accidentally starts spraying bullets around the room like a broken sprinkler. Tommy’s bumbling inadequacies as a criminal (Pitt’s comedic timing is spot-on) make these scenes outrageously funny. After each robbery, he ducks into Rosie’s car and they drive home to bask in their bounty of greenbacks and gold chains. Steal and wheel.

Unbeknownst to Tommy and Rosie, the clubs were being monitored by the FBI, who leak info about the heists to seasoned tabloid reporter Cardozo (Ray Romano). Desperate for a headline, he offers to tell the couple’s story on the front page of the paper. Being the self-centered dummies that they are, they dish on all the juicy info, and Cardozo keeps his promise, spreading their story to the masses. Mob boss Big Al at first considered the social club heists as a minor annoyance, but when Tommy finds a piece of evidence that could take down Al’s entire syndicate on an aging wise-guy named Joey D (Rocky‘s Burt Young) and uses it to blackmail the salt and pepper-bearded don, he’s forced to sic his goons on the young-idiot Robin Hoods.

Scribe Jonathan Fernandez has fashioned a highly entertaining, taut script that doesn’t force De Felitta to rely on visual flair to hold our interest like a lot of modern mob flicks do. The story takes time for intimate, hushed moments of genuine emotion, but always feels brisk and on the move. De Felitta recognizes and delights in the crackling chemistry between Arianda and Pitt: They can jump from wanting to strangle each other to wanting to screw to cracking dumb jokes without a hiccup. Arianda, a Broadway star, is electric as the mouthy firecracker Rosie, and Pitt is magnetic, turning his character’s intellectual shortcomings into irresistible charm. Romano and Garcia impress as well, never going over-the-top and servicing the story perfectly. Garcia’s scenes with at home with his young grandson, teaching the youngster to make arancinis and instilling in him the importance of love and passion, are surprisingly touching moments of real emotion that add depth to an already excellent film.

On MVFF’s gigantic penultimate day, a quintet of some of the industry’s most exciting directors gathered for a meeting of the minds, the stars and directors of At Middleton and Beside Still Waters unveiled their respective films to packed houses, and the whole lot of them partied it up in the beautiful town of Tiburon, right down the road.

Filmmaker Superfriends

To start off Day 10 of the festival, a killer lineup of directors gathered to participate in a panel organized by Variety, in which they discussed the industry and their filmmaking processes. In my previous festival recap, I mentioned that Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station) asked Steve McQueen a question during the 12 Years a Slave Q&A; McQueen didn’t seem to notice that the young buck was a talented filmmaker himself at the time, but when the two met officially for the Variety panel they became fast friends. Joining Coogler and McQueen for the panel was J.C. Chandor, who helmed the Robert Redford “man at sea” film, All is Lost and 2011’s Margin Call. We spoke to Chandor about the film, so keep an eye out for our interview next week. Also in attendance were John Wells of August: Osage County and Scott Coooper of Crazy Heart and Out of the Furnace.

Click to view slideshow.

Andy Garcia’s Campus Romance

At Middleton,  directed by newcomer Adam Rodgers, focuses on a sporadic on-campus romance between George (Andy Garcia) and Edith (Vera Farmiga), who meet while accompanying their kids on a campus tour of Middleton University. A walk-and-talk rom-com cut from the same cloth as Richard Linklater’s Before series but with a more lighthearted flare, the film was received incredibly well by the Mill Valley audience at CinéArts@Sequoia, who expressed their enthusiasm during the post-screening Q&A with Rodgers, Garcia, and the films’ producers. “When you have a chance to play with [an actor like] Vera Farmiga,” Garcia gushed, “[the scenes] are all fun.” The chemistry developed between the accomplished actors, amazingly, took no time to develop at all. “We never even read the script together once,” Garcia said, to the surprise of the audience, who had been so taken by the screen romance. “We got to know each other as the characters did on camera. She’s incredible.”

Future BIG Movie Stars CHILL in Beside Still Waters

A few feet down from the At Middleton screening, another movie about people talking was pleasing a separate batch of MVFF-goers. Chris Lowell, an actor best known for his roles in Veronica Mars (the “kickstarted” film version is shooting now) and The Help, hops into the director’s chair for the first time with his nostalgia-driven hangout movie, Beside Still Waters. In it, a tragedy causes a group of old childhood friends to reconvene at the memory-filled cabin in the forrest they grew up playing around in (no, it’s not a horror movie). The cast, comprised of some of some of the prettiest rising-star actors in the game right now (just look a the pictures!), were all in attendance at the MVFF screening along with their incredibly excited director, who was all smiles during the audience Q&A. “I was really excited to direct [and] talk to actors the way I’d like a director to talk to me,” Lowell beamed. “That was probably the thing I was most thrilled about. That, and not having to go through hair and makeup in the morning.” Comparisons to the king of all hangout movies, The Big Chill, are inevitable, and Lowell didn’t shy away from acknowledging the influence of Kasdan’s film, which has a strikingly similar premise. “[My co-writer Mohit Narang] and I obsessed over every conceivable reunion [movie], to see what people did right and wrong. The Big Chill is obviously the big tentpole film for [this kind of movie], which is why everyone comes back to it. It’s a film that you watch when you’re sick because it makes you feel good and right about the world.”

Worlds Collide…Over Cocktails

After the dual screenings of At Middleton and Beside Still Waters, the buzzing crowds and proud filmmakers met again at the Tiburon Tavern just down the road to schmooze, booze, and enjoy delectable bites of delicious food (the coffee-coated cheese was curious, yet excellent). Andy Garcia and the Beside Stll Waters cast were happy to mingle, keeping the good vibes flowing along with the bubbly. Lowell and Rodgers, both elated to have their films so well-received, shared their experiences and a big, congratulatory hug.

Stiller Closes Out With Mitty

MVFF closed out big with what looks to be one of the most visually striking films of the year, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Ben Stiller unsurprisingly drew a blitz of media and fan attention when he arrived at the CinéArts@Sequoia theater to present his passion project, about an office worker (played by Stiller himself) who lives in picturesque fantasy worlds represented onscreen beautifully by Stiller and DP Stuart Dryburgh (The Piano). After the screening, Stiller was given the Mill Valley Award and then headed down the street to San Rafael’s beautiful Elk’s Lodge where everyone–from the hard-working festival staff, to the filmmakers, to industry people, to the excited festival-goers–celebrated as the wonderful 11-day festival came to a close.

But wait…that’s not all! We’ve still got a ton of content coming out of the festival, so stay tuned in the next few days for more MVFF goodness!

Starting tonight, October 3rd and going through October 13th, the 36th Mill Valley Film Festival will be rolling out the red carpet for local Bay Area filmmakers, movie stars, and acclaimed directors from around the world in the gorgeous surroundings of Marin County. From a costume-friendly screening of Return of the Jedi, to live music performances, to screenings of some of the most buzz-worthy films in the cinemasphere, the festival has got a little something for everybody.

Way Too Indie will be there to give you updates on the myriad events and screenings going down at the festival, with photos galore, reviews, interviews, and more.

Here are some of the guests, screenings and events you can expect to see at the festival:

Alexander Payne’s highly-anticipated new film, Nebraska, will be opening up the festival, with stars Will Forte and Bruce Dern in attendance. A father-son Midwestern odyssey from Montana to Nebraska, the movie earned Dern a best actor award at Cannes.

Splitting opening night honors with Payne is Brian Percival, with his beautiful Nazi Germany-set drama, The Book Thief, starring Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, and newcomer Sophie Nelisse, playing a young girl who discovers the power of storytelling.

At Middleton, a middle-aged romance between parents of college hopefuls set entirely during a campus tour, is director Adam Rodger’s feature debut and stars two seasoned, excellent actors in Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga. The film is making its premiere at the festival, and Rodgers and Garcia will be in attendance.Also making its premiere is Beside Still Waters, but writer-director Chris Lowell, who will be on hand to introduce the film.

One of the most highly-anticipated films of the year (especially for us) is Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor. The film, following a free black man in 1841 who is stripped of everything when he’s sold as a slave, is undoubtedly one of the major highlights of the festival.

And that’s just scratching the surface. There will be screenings of Palme d’Or winner Blue is the Warmest Color, John Wells’ August: Osage County, the Matthew McConaughey breakthrough piece Dallas Buyers Club, Jan Troell’s The Last Sentence, the heartfelt Matt Shepard documentary Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine, Asghar Farhadi’s The Past, a children’s film program, and much, much more.

There will also be a closing night tribute Ben Stiller, who’s bringing with him his new film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Also receiving festival spotlights are actors Jared Leto (Dallas Buyer’s Club) and Dakota Fanning (Effie Gray), and legendary auteur Costa Garvas (Capital, Z, State of Siege).

Stay tuned to Way Too Indie for updates on all the action going down in Mill Valley! For more info, visit mvff.com