The Drop
The Drop: when his bar is robbed on a ‘drop night’ – when illegal bookies stash their winnings for gangs to collect – a bar owner, and bartender need to figure out who’s ripped them off. This is a film that’s been designed to be a quiet slow-burner with sustained tension. It’s the kind of film where someone asking for directions or talking about a dog has multiple meanings and veiled threats. There’s a lot of additional detail thrown in to deliberately set up every character as being potentially dangerous, giving you just enough information about their life to explain their circumstances, and making them feel more authentic. The mood is carried expertly by a strong central cast – Hardy plays a blinder as a slightly simple bartender, Gandolfini was engrossing but because it was his last role it would have been good to see him doing something that wasn’t a ‘Soprano lite’ job. Rapace and Schoenaerts are also very impressive in their supporting roles. it’s so well made and acted that it reminds you of other ‘hefty’ films like Mystic River or Prisoners. The only couple of missteps were that the Chechen gangsters felt like they were straight out of Taken; and because it’s set in religious Brooklyn, the thick accents were a little bit iffy across the board. It’s clearly meant to be an actor’s piece, but when it’s this well-presented and finely tuned, you’ve got to tip your hat to director Michaël R. Roskam and Cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis. Despite being intensely low-key and a touch dreary, The Drop is ultimately a gripping character-driven crime drama, and I’m surprised there’s not been a bigger buzz about it.
Agreed, man! I’m surprised there hasn’t been a bigger buzz about this too. I thought it a solid little crime-drama and Hardy was outstanding. I’ve a review of this myself that I’ve been meaning to finish.
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It seems that most mainstream critics weren’t too keen on another gangster film – must have been a poorly timed release or something. Just a shame that its hopes are now firmly pinned on being a slow-burning success on DVD/Streaming!
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Your reviews are so good!
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Thanks!
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Despite the inherent conventionality of the material, the cast is so good that they make it worth watching. Nice review.
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Although the characters were fairly ‘stock’ (especially Gandolfini) I didn’t think the film was too generic. It didn’t feel like I’d seen much of it before, and the acting certainly helped elevate it above a standard mobster movie.
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I watched this last week and it was so good :)
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Agreed – just wish it had a bit more of a push, and some better reviews when it was released. Seems to be going down better with punters than critics.
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Glad to say I’ve caught up with this one. Thought it was very good; a neat refocus away from the ways and means of criminality and onto the characters involved. I liked the way the ending twisted and turned; that idea there are no good guys.
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I loved how you couldn’t really tell if Hardy was as simple as he came across. Accents aside, there’s not a whole lot to diss here!
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