Been a slow couple weeks, with no movies that I cared to see at the theaters lately. That changed this weekend with The Drop, James Gandolfini’s last film. Starring him and the brilliant Tom Hardy, this is a gripping, building film with a you-don’t-see-it-coming fulfilling climax. It is based on a book by Dennis Lehane, who’s books have also become the films Mystic River, Shutter Island, and Gone Baby Gone, all great ones in my opinion.
With last year’s Enough Said (released just after Gandolfini’s death), we all saw he could play more than the tough guy we know from The Soprano’s, and play it well, but The Drop takes him back to his roots. He plays the manager of a bar, which the local organized crime use as a drop where money can change hands. Hardy plays the bartender, and the two of them keep the money flowing right in front of everyone, but no one is foolish to rob the place, until one night someone is. Cops start investigating, and the crime group wants their missing money. When questions start getting asked about a missing bar regular, a 10 year old unsolved case, the viewer is left wondering who is on who’s side and who is the real bad guy behind it all. It might sound too complex, but it really isn’t. The story is told so well, with interlocking plot elements, that it isn’t hard to keep up, even when you don’t know exactly what may be going on.
Hardy has been around for 15 years, but it seems he didn’t really get his due until Inception, and everything I’ve seen of him since is compelling. The Drop is no different, where he is the quiet, unassuming barkeep, yet you sense his underlying edge throughout. This isn’t a fast moving film, the tension builds slowly but steadily, until 45 minutes in you realize you are sitting at the edge of your seat and don’t remember moving forward. The climax hits like a hammer. This is the kind of movie you can watch again and again, and well worth a trip to the theater for the first viewing.
Jons Movie Takes 