Review: The Drop

There are places that, on any given night, are the nexus of illicit cash exchanges. Envelopes full of money are slid across counters, deposited in a time-release safe, and then collected the next morning. Nobody sees the comings and goings and, if they do, they're smart enough to keep their mouths shut.

One such drop bar is Cousin Marv's, a local Brooklyn watering hole once owned by Marv (James Gandolfini) before Chechen mobsters led by Chovka (Michael Aronov) took it over and made him a mere figurehead. A residual of resentment still runs in Marv's veins - he might have been some sort of contender - and there's desperation enough in the big man (nagging sister Ann Dowd, father on life support and the hospital trying to collect on past due bills) to make a risky move. He masterminds a hold-up of the bar on drop night, a trial run that draws the ire of the Chechens and the interest of Detective Torres (John Ortiz).

Marv's cousin Bobby (Tom Hardy) senses Marv's involvement in the robbery but wants to recover the money and return it to the Chechens. Bobby's a quiet, hardworking type - the kind of guy who finds an injured pitbull puppy in a garbage can and takes it in despite his inexperience with animals. He's aided by Nadia (Noomi Rapace), his guarded neighbour who's rehabilitated herself from her drug-abusing past. Meanwhile, the dog's abusive owner Eric Deeds (Matthias Schoenaerts) comes skulking around, dropping not so veiled threats at every opportunity.

The Drop is typical Dennis Lehane - which is to say that it's an excellent if flawed crime drama that boasts a lean, hardboiled script and outstanding performances. Adapted from the short story "Animal Rescue," it's a touch more manipulative (Tom Hardy with a puppy!) than his previous works Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone and Shutter Island, and there's a slight clumsiness in which all of the narrative strands come together but it doesn't detract from the movie being a solid, satisfying noir.

Cousin Marv is a strong swan song for the talented Gandolfini, who is commanding even in the silences. There are seemingly innocuous gestures - the way he looks over his glasses at his sister, the pauses between words, the moment when the outcome of his play is revealed - that carry such weight. And yet...even Gandolfini has to cede the film to Hardy, who is flat-out brilliant as Bobby. So much so that you forgive Rapace and Schoenaerts, both of whom are fine but whose characters are fairly unnecessary in the overall scheme of things; the way Hardy plays their scenes together illustrates an actor in full control of his powers.

Bobby appears to be a gentle soul but Lehane's script drops hints of a darker nature - he goes to mass but doesn't take communion, he has an unsettling familiarity with wrapping dismembered body parts - but Hardy keeps you guessing. It should come as no surprise that this taciturn and sensitive man is no innocent, but Hardy's portrayal indeed makes it so. There are the most infinitesimal yet seismic shifts in his being - the steely calm he suddenly assumes or the way his body becomes a steadily coiled spring - and the off-kilter way he delivers certain lines like "I'm going for a walk now" or "He was going to hurt our dog" that simply floors.

The Drop

Directed by: Michaël R. Roskam

Written by: Dennis Lehane; adapted from his short story "Animal Rescue"

Starring: Tom Hardy, James Gandolfini, Noomi Rapace, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Aronov, Ann Dowd, John Ortiz