Review of The Drop (2014) by Spencer H — 30 Sep 2014

A creeper of a film, menacing and tautly structured until the final knockout blow. Watching through the first hour (or more) I began to feel like a detective gathering clues, wondering when, and if, something more momentous might occur. The characters all inhabit a small and rather dingy world of violence, full of suspicion and diminished dreams. Bob (Tom Hardy) roams through the same avenues without seeming to acquire much direction and confidence, lacking the desire (or ability) to communicate very effectively. One of the few false notes in the film comes from his accent, which varies but never manages to sound authentically New York.

His Cousin Marv (Gandolfini) is Bob's employer, the owner of his own titular bar and a brooding, disgruntled man upset with the downturns his life has taken. I was struck by just how broken all of the characters are, Noomi Rapace as Nadia hints at her troubled history with drugs and carries a very visible scar. One begins to get the impression that the past will inevitably drag these people down, and their inability to move past old devastation begins to feel more than a little frustrating. With the exception of a boxer puppy that Bob rescues from the trash there's little to root for throughout the first half of the picture, certainly no typical heroes and little to be saved that isn't already tarnished.

Yet the finale reels all these disparate, downtrodden elements together to form something greater than the sum of their parts. In addition to wrapping up the visual clues dropped curiously throughout previous scenes the conclusion creates a compelling case for the whole venture. Instead of feeling cheated by the long build-up I left the theater wondering about the lives of these characters, their motivations, and the abilities of anyone to truly change. Pretty heady stuff for a gangster flick to be sure.