Bleak and fascinating, "The Drop" stands in the higher ranks of crime drama films of the last few years and provides for yet another flawless performance by the great Tom Hardy and a testament performance by Gandolfini, who shines in all of his brightness, accumulated through a glorious career.
"The Drop" isn't at any moment doing, nor trying to do, something highly original, but thanks to the fact that it knows perfectly well what it's doing it shines on many level, including the story that could be looked as weak from a synopsis, but reveals itself to be quite well thought out as it unveils. Gandolfini as I said is a blast to watch, but what truly makes this movie rise above is Tom Hardy and his amazingly written character. For all the movie I was asking myself, well he is very good as always, but this isn't the brilliance I expect from Hardy. That until the climax where, not to spoil anything, you discover things that make Tom Hardy's performance and character have so much more relevance, so much more brilliance in it, you can't help yourself but bow to the craft of on of the greats. Other than that it is beautiful to look at and paints some images which have really a lot of depth.
Speaking of depth, the above points are the only ones in which the movie reaches it. For the rest the characters are either bland or unreadable, the context underdeveloped and the ultimate resolution underwhelming. I had some very good tension kicks out of the film and got awed by the performances and the direction, but there was really nothing that made this movie fly over the roof. It certainly is well constructed and loads better than some of the crappy crime dramas of the last few years, but nothing more. I would recommend this as a good, entertaining watch, but don't expect to be thinking about this one for very long.
"The Drop" isn't at any moment doing, nor trying to do, something highly original, but thanks to the fact that it knows perfectly well what it's doing it shines on many level, including the story that could be looked as weak from a synopsis, but reveals itself to be quite well thought out as it unveils. Gandolfini as I said is a blast to watch, but what truly makes this movie rise above is Tom Hardy and his amazingly written character. For all the movie I was asking myself, well he is very good as always, but this isn't the brilliance I expect from Hardy. That until the climax where, not to spoil anything, you discover things that make Tom Hardy's performance and character have so much more relevance, so much more brilliance in it, you can't help yourself but bow to the craft of on of the greats. Other than that it is beautiful to look at and paints some images which have really a lot of depth.
Speaking of depth, the above points are the only ones in which the movie reaches it. For the rest the characters are either bland or unreadable, the context underdeveloped and the ultimate resolution underwhelming. I had some very good tension kicks out of the film and got awed by the performances and the direction, but there was really nothing that made this movie fly over the roof. It certainly is well constructed and loads better than some of the crappy crime dramas of the last few years, but nothing more. I would recommend this as a good, entertaining watch, but don't expect to be thinking about this one for very long.