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It’s not easy to make a gangster film that actually stands out (we’ll pause while you try to remember the last one you saw), but “The Drop,” a Brooklyn-set crime thriller directed by Michaël R. Roksam, finds ample ways to distinguish itself in a long-dusty genre. The bones of the story can be credited to “Mystic River” scribe Dennis Lehane, whose short story, “Animal Rescue,” inspired his screenplay, not to mention a new novel.
The film’s key figure is Bob (a characteristically excellent Tom Hardy), who serves as a bartender at a dive that doubles as a drop point for thugs to funnel cash. More interesting than that conceit, though, is Bob’s tricky relationship to those played by the film’s ace supporting stars, including Noomi Rapace, Matthias Schoenaerts and James Gandolfini in his final big-screen role.
Bob is a gentle giant, the perfect candidate to woo Nadia (Rapace) and take in a stray dog; however, no one in this movie is who they seem to be. Gandolfini’s character, a father figure to Bob, has his own agenda, while Schoenaerts’s pseudo-villain (who’s also Nadia’s ex), has so much inner fire it’s impossible to foresee his next move.
Bolstered by a subplot concerning an infamous legend in these characters’ neighborhood, “The Drop” thrives on the vulnerabilities of its ostensibly rough-edged figures. Seeing Hardy and Schoenaerts go head to head isn’t a show of brawling masculinity, but rather a display of bobbing and weaving between respective insecurities. The culmination is terribly compelling—and tremendously unexpected—and Roksam never seems as though he’s exploiting cliché twists.
Having already directed Schoenaerts in the rough, yet poignant, “Bullhead,” the filmmaker seems to have developed a keen sense of how to get under the skin of beasts. He also, in making his stateside debut (like Schoenaerts, he hails from Belgium), announces he has a true Hollywood career ahead of him. Here’s hoping he’ll dust off another genre while he’s at it.
The Drop
R
Three reels out of four
Now playing at area theaters
Recommended Rental
Neighbors
R
Available Tuesday
The best comedy of the summer is finally yours for the renting. Take a proudly chiseled Zac Efron, a not-so-proudly pudgy Seth Rogen, toss in a baby monitor and lots of phallic jokes, and you’ve got this riotous war of frat boys and young parents, who take so well to sharing a picket fence. Come for the laughs, stay for the bromances.
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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