The 2014 action film was directed by Michael R. Roskam and written by Dennis Lehane. It’s the story of criminal bartender Bobby Saginowski ( Tom Hardy ) who finds a dog in his neighbors trashcan. Having nowhere to go, he adopts it, only things aren’t as innocent as they seem.
PLOT:
Bobby’s a New York bartender with a somewhat questionable accent at a place run by his Italian-American cousin, Marvin ( James Gandolfini ). He acts as a friend/ semi-mentor to him throughout the film. Thing is, this ain’t no ordinary bar, it’s main purpose is as a drop for illegal exchanges between criminalies. One night, Bobby’s on his way back home from work and finds a beaten up pit bull in his neighbors trashcan. He asks his neighbor, Nadia ( Noomi Rapace ), she doesn’t recognize it.
Having no idea what to do with the thing, he takes it in as his own, naming it Rocco, while Nadia acts as dogsitter when Bobby’s not around. Also there’s a bit of a hinted romance between Nadia and Bobby. Meanwhile things start looking more and more suspicous, it turns out Nadia’s ex-boyfriend is the owner of Rocco and demands Bobby gives him $10.000 or he takes him away and kills it. despite only having him for a few days/ weeks, he’s already extremely attatched to Rocco like he’s had him for years, so he puts up with it.
The next day Marvin finds a package containing a severed arm, just as a sign. Meanwhile things are going well between Bobby and Nadia, a close friendship or even more brews between the two. Then in the middle of the night her ex-boyfriend breaks into her house and kidnaps her to the bar, the same place he plans to meet Bobby.
It’s time, James gathers the money and prepares for everything to hit the fan at a moments notice. Of course taking place at “The Drop” coincedentally already in Bobby’s hands. Does Tom Hardy survive? Does the dog stay safe? I’ll leave that for you folks to find out yourselves.
CONCLUSSION:
Overall I was impressed at Tom Hardy’s ability to not only pull off an American accent ( though I’m not quite sure it was a NY one ), he also proved ( to me ) that he can pull off a serious, small-scale film, as opposed to the great supporting roles I’ve mostly seen him in.
The other two main actors also did a great job at their performances. Being the first Gandolfini film I had seen, which coincedentally was his last, I was able to recognize the talent, but also realized this was almost cetrtainly not even remotely his career defining moment, making me more strongly consider getting around to watching the Sopranos.
In the end The Drop was an engaging story about a man willing to do anything to protect his dog, 7.5/10.
-The Screenwriter
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