It’s probably quite fitting that for James Gandolfini’s last ever movie, that he is channeling a little bit of Tony Soprano in The Drop. A movie about organised crime dropping off their proceeds to various underworld bars in Brooklyn, including Cousin Marvs and the back stabbing and robbery that goes with it.
Alongside Cousin Marv, is Bob (Tom Hardy) a quiet and lonely bartender who finds himself slap bang in the middle of a robbery gone awry, not to mention a sweet and touching story about him finding a puppy. Ironically enough, in this dog eat dog world, it’s the dog who holds the entire story together, but we won’t run spoilers here.
Hardy as most of you know, brings quite the intensity to every role he’s in. And The Drop is no exception...to a point. Hardy delivers an incredibly brooding personality to Bob who looks and acts like he has murdered whole cities, but all the time he is quiet and reserved. Tragically, Hardy never rises above this reserved persona, and while in the finale of sorts, he does exhibit some level of aggression and assertiveness. You really do expect him to snap, but he doesn’t. It’s always the same old Bob. While testament to Hardy’s performance, there probably is a far more interesting story involved in Bob’s past then what’s on display here. However, he works and works quite well, even if he does sport an accent that falls apart from time to time and in places he channels a young Robert De Niro (no bad thing).
In his final big screen role, James Gandolfini is also doing a bit of channeling. It’s easy to spot Tony Soprano in places, but he also projects a loneliness and sadness throughout, which the actor does with ease. It’s by no means an Oscar worthy performance, but he is immensely watchable (is he ever anything but).Noomi Rapace puts in a likeable performance and while slightly underused has rather brilliant chemistry throughout, however her closing moments feel like an after thought, in a rushed and underwhelming finale, with a brilliant performance by Matthew Schoenaerts.
The Drop is a movie the meanders it’s way through an interesting enough, albeit predictable story and it gradually builds and builds to it’s finale. But as mentioned above, the finale fails to ignite and feels rushed and awkward.
This may be a fine TV movie, but as for an enjoyable night at the cinema? This is something that only Tom Hardy fans may love. It’s by no means bad, and it is watchable, with some decent performances from all the cast, but it goes nowhere. Keep your expectations low and you’ll be fine, otherwise drop this from your list of must sees.
