The Drop (Movie Reviews)

     I must confess that, I wasn't planning on seeing this movie, not because of it being James Gandolfini's final film, but it simply wasn't on my radar. That being said, I'm glad that I watched this. While I was expecting some predictable, by-the-numbers crime drama, The Drop had some key surprises that I wasn't expecting. I never read the book Michael Lehane, but, people who aren't that familar with the source material can do fine without any knowledge from its literature. Much of the movie stems from money being dropped off at bars as distribution for a cover up for a powerful mob, but one, a robbery at a high-end establishment changes the one Bob Saginowski & Marv, Bob's cousin and the owner of a high-profile bar, in which, they take care of; and, if they don't have the money back for the chechens, it's going to end bad for the siblings. Now, the story isn't groundbreaking nor does it reinvent the crime drama genre, but, the performances make this film, particularly Tom Hardy's Bob. While his performance stands above the rest, I do swear the people behind this were like, "lets get all the bad-asses of their respective camps" Yes, Noomi Rapace is one of them, but I did feel like her role here wasn't as interesting as James or Tom's but, she does what she can here. Otherwise, many of the roles here convey an emotion of dread, as if, any one of them is expecting to be shot because a drop wasn't met or some deranged lunatic is coming back to rekindle an old time that was once respect, before something bad happened. Visually, it looks like a crime drama; so, expect many of the usual tropes in this genre to pop up one time or another. I'll say this much, though, with many of the fall releases parlaying Oscar buzz or not, it's worthy upon you to check this movie out. Plus, the surprise is a bit of a surprise.

Good: Tom Hardy's great, sharp story

Bad: Story elements may seem familiar to some

**** out of 5