Sunday Review: The Drop

They never saw him coming

By Morris Dean

The Drop (2014, directed by Michaël R. Roska) takes place in Brooklyn, and the title refers to the practice of organized criminals of depositing illegal takings in a designated bar for later pickup. The designated bar in this case is "Cousin Marv's," which used to actually belong to Marv (played by James Gandolfini in his last feature film). It belonged to him, that is, until some Chechen mobsters muscled him out. He just works there now, and Bob (played by Tom Hardy) is a bartender.
    The film starts quietly enough, with bar regulars commemorating the 10th anniversary of the murder of a man named Richie Whelan. (They like to have something to drink about apparently.) Marv objects to Bob's permissive attitude. And the astute viewer takes note – of both men's attitude....
    After work one night, Bob rescues a battered pit bull pup and makes the acquaintance of Nadia (played by Noomi Rapace – the original "girl with the dragon tattoo"), in whose garbage can the pup had been abandoned. Nadia agrees to care for the dog until Bob can decide whether to adopt him.

    Some more overt action occurs when the bar is robbed. When a police detective comes to investigate, Bob gives him a piece of information that can be used to identify one of the two robbers, and once again Marv objects, vehemently this time. And then, Chechen Chovka comes by with one of the robbers impaled in the back of his van....

    The plot is too simple to stand for much more revelation. (The screenplay was adapted from a short story, by Dennis Lehane, after all.) Suffice it to say, The Drop weaves everything together in as satisfying a quiet drama as you're likely to see this year: Nadia, the pup, the man who battered the pup, Marv, the robbery, Richie Whelan, Bob. As the detective says later, "They never see you coming, do they, Bob?"
    Tom Hardy's quiet performance as Bob is bravura, and I don't think the movie could have wrapped everything up so well without him. (Hardy starred in Warrior, which I reviewed on July 22, 2012, and in Locke, which Jonathan Price reviewed on July 20 last year.)

Copyright © 2015 by Morris Dean