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The Drop (2014)

A solid, somewhat slow but never tedious look inside some small time crooks who own a bar in the City. This one is a drop for payments in a booking racket, and the bar owner (James Gandolfini) sort of goes along because he has no choice. The bartender (Tom Hardy) is far more ambiguous, and he makes the movie click. Add Noomi Rapace whose small role fills in a big gap rather well and you have the core of the cast, all excellent.

There is no attempt at the grandiose here, despite all the history and slightly exaggerated characters involved (mostly bad ones). And that's the beauty of the movie, which manages not just realism but a welcome tenderness amidst all the darkness and bad intentions. The one bright spot is, tragically, Gandolfini, who manages to be really funny even as he about to do terrible things. Hardy is just the opposite, showing a huge heart with utter sobriety even as he, too, is going to do terrible things.

Whether this quite rises above the many movies that dive into this kind of world I don't know, but I thoroughly enjoyed it even when it seemed to get slow. It doesn't plod, but it has no urgency, either. There are some clichés that might have been avoided (the attitude of the bad guys) and some violence that seemed a bit in your face, but it balances out, too. Rapace is not given enough to do—this is a man's movie, another one —but she is tough and smart in necessary ways.

Well filmed, smartly done, I'd give this a look.

Michael R. Roskam burst onto the scene a few years back with "Bullhead" which was deservedly nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

In his first English language, American film, Roskam works with a script by the great author Dennis Lehane to tell the story of Brooklyn bartender Bob, waitress Nadia, has-been Cousin Marv, and the mysterious Eric Deeds.

The plot of "The Drop" has been done before to various degrees, and Lehane's script was surprisingly predictable. Although the material wasn't particularly fresh, the actors and a few strong scenes make it worthwhile.

Hardy, although a bit inconsistent, delivers a quietly great performance. You just want to give the guy a hug. Gandolfini is unsurprisingly fantastic in his final big screen performance. He plays to perfection a middle aged has-been that's ticked off with what his life has become. The direction they took with his character was predictable and left me very disappointed, but I'm happy that his last performance was this good. Noomi Rapace arguably gave the best performance in the film, and probably the best supporting actress I've seen so far this year. She does a great job playing a damaged woman trying to lead a good life, and her scenes with Hardy (and the dog!) are some of the best of the movie. Schoenaerts (who was sensational in Roskam's Bullhead) is good, but not given too much to do with a one-dimensional character. And the dog! Rocco! One of the all-time great dog performances in my opinion.

The movie is also really funny at times (mainly Gandolfini in the first half hour and Hardy with the dog). It drags a bit at times, and like I said above the script could have been a lot better.... but it's still a very good movie that easily could have been a great one with a few changes. I'll still see it again, and I'm sure it will stay in my top 10 of the year.

And as a huge fan of James Gandolfini, I'm sad to say this is the last time we'll ever see him on the big screen. But I'm happy that Roskam did him justice with one last great performance. RIP to one of the all-time greats.

Many reasons to see a film admirable crafted like this. The first motif / Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini and MatthiasSchoenarts. The second - the great architecture of it. Not the last- the love story, a dog and fair definition of loneliness. It is far to be a film about mobs and murders and plots. It is not a smart film but a wise one. And, sure, I am profound subjective, Tom Hardy is pure great .

I felt compelled to write this review because I was fortunate enough to see this movie at an advance screening, and because I do not think the movie will be around long.

The reason I think it will not be around long is because this movie is for adults. It is character driven with a well written storyline. It does not have anything that would appeal to most movie goers....no car chases, moronic humor, or gratuitous sex. The Drop starts slow, but you have to pay attention to what goes on in the movie, and what the characters both do and say. It picks up speed and intensity, and is well worth your time.

The storyline is a very interesting underworld crime caper, but it is very nuanced, with excellent acting by all the leads. I was only familiar with the late James Gandolfini, and he does not disappoint, and the other actors, although unknown to me were also outstanding.

The Drop appears as a crime thriller, taking its audience to a gritty life of gangsters hiding their dirty money in drop bars, but this is mostly a drama about a lone bartender thinking on living a different path apart from his cousin's. It also involves a subplot of a man trying to retain his already faded glory. But there is a deadlier conflict lurking in the dark. There isn't much remarkably grand to be found in this story, but telling the details of the characters' past and waiting for the impending danger behind their backs instantly makes it compelling. It benefits by being low-key, but still far from classic. In any way this is still one fine basic crime drama.

This is a story where you find no heroes. Bob is basically not the kind of person anyone would fear. In spite of his reserve and kinder personality towards people, you may not know that he is still a tough fellow since he's been adapted into this mess. Things get lighter when he adopts a dog, meets a new friend and starts a relationship, thinking that his life would change for a bit. Once the real threat appears into this small side of his world, we expect him to protect them from harm, but this is not one of those glossy heroic deeds that lead to some action set piece. The thrills are simply calm and with that calmness, you can sense more of the danger coming after himself and his loved ones. If there is one thing we've learn about gangsters in great crime movies then that is how unpredictable they are at killing. That is how often the movie displays its suspense.

The story relies to many backstories within its main characters and we could easily comprehend those on their conversations and their lifestyle. The cast helps making these characters engaging, with Tom Hardy layering coldness above Bob's remaining humanity. The late James Gandolfini does beyond brooding, you can feel the character's despair from his old days. Anything else, the actor did what he does best. Noomi Rapace makes for a likable backup for Hardy. And Matthias Schoenaerts is effectively threatening. These performances just live up to the depth of what's written for these characters.

The Drop is plain simple, that the only value it provides to its audience is some entertaining cluster with the stars like Hardy, Gandolfini, and Rapace, and some grounded tension. This won't end up being one of the greats since it doesn't actually satisfy in whatever happens in the end, but this is already an interesting study of a corrupt lifestyle at the streets of Brooklyn, with people hiding their own dirty secrets and facing some uncertain consequences. That alone could bring a fine recommendation to this movie.