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aramount Plus’s MobLand has a stellar cast with huge industry names. The cheekiest former Agent 007, Pierce Brosnan plays a villian, Conrad Harrigan. The trailer seemed to be sufficient reason to watch: Brosnan - an Irish mobster. The ensemble for the show includes Helen Mirren, the great Paddy Considine and, of course, Tom Hardy.
The pilot for the show, directed by Guy Ritchie, has some of the signature qualities of his films though without signature humour and a certain eerie unsettling quality which the show retains throughout. The viewers are introduced to the world of the Harrigans, upper echelon mobsters who have been around long enough to ingrain themselves into British society.
Tom Hardy’s character, Harry Da Souza, is a fixer for the Harrigan family. A fixer, of course, is somebody who is a special adviser and problem-solver who works with someone on a contract. In the world of organised crime, this is someone who cleans up the mess and deals with problems in the midst of which the mob finds itself. Harry’s crucial role and the Harrigans’ complete reliance upon him are established early on in the show.
Trouble comes as Eddie Harrigan, Conrad’s grandson, is allegedly involved in the disappearance of the heir of another crime family, the Stevensons. Eddie, an unstable and evidently evil young man, maintains that he does not know anything about the whereabouts of the Stevenson boy. As Richie Stevenson, mob boss and the disappeared boy’s father, begins to look for him, so do the Harrigans. This eventually leads them to finding out the truth which they try their best to conceal knowing that it may lead to a war between the families (which it does despite Harry’s best attempts.)
Tom Hardy’s Harry is a brooding character, a boiling pot that never lets out steam. His voice never rises above a whisper. The restraint of his extreme capacity for violence is what makes the character irresistible to watch. It is not to the show runner’s credit that the show might well have tanked had it not cast Hardy. This is nothing short of a disappointment when a show boasts such big names. Brosnan and Mirren do too much on-screen, seeming clearly way out of their depth, struggling to swim in an unfamiliar and much bigger pond. Their failure is made more obvious by Hardy’s and Considine’s quiet presence and power. Mirren and Brosnan display an insufficiency that can only be pinned down to arrogance about their talent and repute; a clear lack of humility to approach a script with openness to give oneself to its demands. One need not lose oneself in the role completely and play a caricature which, disappointingly, is what both Mirren and Brosnan do. Geoff Bell as Richie Stevenson shines as the great cockney mobster reminiscent of many British flicks.
Paramount Plus’s shows have a certain cinematic quality to them that makes them deserving of the name. The show does a unique job where, while remaining deeply British television in mood, it feels like a dark crime thriller film. The plot is intense; Ronan Bennett’s writing hits all the right beats at all the right moments.
Paramount Plus’s shows have a certain cinematic quality to them that makes them deserving of the name. The show does a unique job where, while remaining deeply British television in mood, it feels like a dark crime thriller film. The plot is intense; Ronan Bennett’s writing hits all the right beats at all the right moments. Among the cast, only the two biggest names fail the writing, the rest of the supporting ensemble all do a great job at carrying the plot. As for the mood, think Guy Ritchie with all the sense of humour and cheekiness stripped away, something he might make after losing a loved one.
Although the plot is rich and the conflicts enticing, Tom Hardy’s character remains the powerhouse that keeps the watching experience captivating. His refusal to lose his calm keeps one waiting for him to explode. There are many opportunities where one feels, even hopes, that he will unleash his rage; for instance when Conrad Harrington, his boss, tries to make a pass at his wife and daughter or when his grandson actually ends up sleeping with her. These are moments where one wishes to see Harry lose his cool.
The question that rings in everyone’s mind, of course, is what makes Harry compliant. The frustration of never having him give it away is what makes the show interesting. The complexity of the human mind is not oversimplified by giving people fluff that they can hang on to as motivation for his behaviour. This is what happens when great writing is paired with remarkable acting with restraint. The show is a must watch, even if just for Tom Hardy’s performance. That is reason enough.
Uneeb Nasir writes about culture, art and identity.More of his work can be found oninstagram.com/un.eeeb