I have to suppress the urge to simply state that The Drop features copious material of Tom Hardy interacting with a puppy and then drop the mic. I feel like this should be enough of a draw for any prospective moviegoer. In a movie that features Hardy, the late James Gandolfini, Noomi Rapace, and Matthias Schoenearts, Rocco the pit bull is far and away the most memorable actor. This is both a testament to the puppy’s delightful exuberance and to the stock nature of the human actors’ roles.
Not that the character-as-trope aspect is a bad thing. There’s nothing inherently wrong with going back to types, as long as they’re executed with skill. And skill is in copious supply here. Hardy is no stranger to playing tough guys, but his Bob Saginowski is much more in the mode of Brando in On the Waterfront, a stoic giant who’s much more passive than aggressive. Hardy is having fun with a thick Brooklyn accent (carrying on his proud tradition of memorable vocal affectation) and getting to be shown up by Rocco’s antics. Gandolfini, too, is doing the kind of role he could play in his sleep. His Marv is of the definitively over-the-hill gangster variety, rather than Tony Soprano’s kingpin or even the fuckup he played in Killing Them Softly. No one here is stretching themselves, but the good thing about being in one’s comfort zone is that everything seems effortless.
Bob and Marv run a Brooklyn bar that’s owned by the Chechen mob. Occasionally, it’s selected to act as a “drop bar,” the nightly repository for all of the illegal money in the city. After some hoods rob the bar (not when it’s a drop, but as a test run for when it will be), the pair find themselves in hot water with their criminally inclined associates. At the same time, Bob discovers little Rocco beaten and bleeding in a trash can, and takes him in at the urging of his new friend Nadia (Rapace). Soon, though, he finds himself being harassed by Nadia’s psychotic ex-boyfriend Eric (Schoenearts). All of these plot threads tie themselves together as the movie goes on, leading to a confrontation that will drag Bob out of his self-imposed withdrawal from violence.
The Drop was written by prolific and popular crime fiction author Dennis Lehane, based on his novel of the same name. It’s directed by Michaël Roskam, whose tormented demon of a debut film, Bullhead, earned him a ton of attention and an Oscar nomination a few years back. With that kind of creative collaboration, it’s slightly disappointing that the movie lands on the “perfectly all right” end of the spectrum. It’s got a lived-in working class mood that’s second nature to Lehane’s work, and some great individual scenes. But the disparate nature of the storylines make it sometimes seem like completely different films inhabiting the same space for much of the runtime. And tossed into the mix are pieces that seem completely superfluous, such as the inclusion of a police detective played by John Ortiz, whose scenes could be cut without missing a beat.
The Drop (incidentally, the film should have kept its original title, Animal Rescue, which was much more distinct and better represents its themes) represents the kind of standard I wish Hollywood would aim to hit more often. While not a revelation in any capacity (though I wish Rocco the pit bull a long and fruitful career), it’s made with confidence and has enough emotion to justify a visit.
