The Drop

Intimate gangster flicks set in the rundown bars of the New York underworld are attractive to viewers, especially when they have a cast like The Drop has. The film is entertaining, as it arouses curiosity about how the relationships between the characters will develop and what we anticipate the dramatic climax will be. But we don’t get such a surprise or drama in the end. The directing dampens the potential for surprise and there is a lack of the key contours of a dramatic arc that is supposed to make sense in the climax. Do yourself a favor and watch its more polished genre siblings We Own the Night and The Departed instead. (01/28/2023)

I quite enjoy the general mockery of Ben Affleck's acting among film fans (along the lines of "the mob bitches, so I will bitch too"), but he's straight up Shakespearean elite against Tom Hardy, with a rich arsenal of facial expressions. I'm really sorry, but Tom Hardy with his permanent scowl is like the Chuck Norris of A-movies and his acting doesn't impress me at all. Looking at the permanent wrinkles on his forehead, I can think of a distant quote from one of the kleopatra reviews here: "If he had Botox injected into his forehead, he would be finished with acting." (01/04/2015)

Amstel, Stella, Budweiser and Stella. I’ll never go into a pub like this, especially in America, where there is an abundance of microbreweries. But this country is also home to some practices you wouldn’t want to be part of. And it is these practices that are the topic of this movie – The Drop. The thing that attracted me to watching this were mainly the actors, but also the story which seemed like a solid crime movie. The result, however, was as if I spent an hour and a half in some kind of a dream-like haze. All kinds of situations are happening, but it feels as if the audience isn’t a part of it at all. Then things get more intense and the final scene elevates this strangely mediocre crime movie to another level. Had it not been for the ending, I’d probably be complaining about what kind of crap Tom Hardy got roped into. As it is, this is a strange crime movie, whose mood is definitely not to everybody’s taste, but the ending must bring joy to anyone who likes suspenseful dialogs and dogs. (01/12/2015)

Fragile and polite. Roskam skillfully delivers the realism necessary for this type of story. He slowly raises the tension, tightens the noose. Impatient viewers will get bored and complain that there’s nothing happening, but it’s there, that unpleasant feeling that this is our world which the filmmakers don’t dispel until the ending (and that’s just the sound of high-heels). Tom Hardy carries the entire movie on his shoulders, he is as at home in a minimalist role (he also proved this in Locke) as in the role of a bad-ass tough guy, and this is a role is just perfect for him. Gandolfini’s swan song presents him in his classic position of “just a bit of a bastard", but he certainly departs with honor. An awfully pleasant movie that was easily better than most of this year’s Oscar winners that I have seen. (01/22/2015)

These captivating crime movies, like Out of the Furnace and Blood Ties, very popular today it seems. And surprisingly, it still works quite well. It's not overloaded with action and it has a lot of clever dialogues and finely edited and developed scenes. This seemingly low-end, made on a shoestring, production of the second decade of the new millennium will someday have its own subcategory. Unfortunately, it lacks more sophisticated script and faster flow of the plot for a higher rating, but it's a good addition nonetheless. Tom Hardy isn't as cool as in Lawless, but he still rocks. (01/31/2015)

So it is true that I really didn't expect this. At first, I was surprised by how fast everything is happening and how the performances are adapted to it. But then, the poetics of this film, which surprisingly builds up to an unexpected twist, got to me. Moreover, Noomi Rapace is simply beautiful here and I haven't seen her anywhere for so long... (02/04/2015)