The Drop
1/4
Starring: Tom Hardy, James Gandolfini, Noomi Rapace, Matthias Schoenaerts, John Ortiz, James Frecheville, Ann Dowd
Rated R for Some Strong Violence and Pervasive Language
The good thing about filmmakers taking chances is that they can do something unexpected and brilliant. "Kick-Ass" is a fine example. Matthew Vaughn tried to make a legitimate superhero movie while poking fun at it at the same time. Doing so is a difficult balancing act, and by risking it all instead of doing something safe and conventional, he made what is probably the best superhero movie since "The Dark Knight." The opposite is also true. If a filmmaker is untalented or flexing his ego, the film can be a disaster. That's what happened with "The Drop."
Generally speaking, I like to set up the story to give my readers an idea of what the film is about. That's not possible here because after viewing it, I haven't the slightest clue what is going on in this movie. It starts out with the main character, Bob (Hardy) telling us how money drops work, and how the bar he works at was robbed, but after that, I got lost very quickly. It's all subplots. The only storyline that makes any sense is the one where Bob finds a beaten up pitbull puppy in the garbage (it's not graphic, thankfully) and takes it into his home. That's how he meets Nadia (Rapace), on whose property the dog was found (and yes, they fall for each other), and Eric Deeds (Schoenaerts), the dog's nasty former owner.
Putting it simply, the film's plot is a mess. Characters float in and out, storylines are introduced then ignored, and the characters talk and talk but don't say anything of interest. The film was written by Dennis Lehane, whose novels served as the basis for movies such as "Mystic River," "Gone Baby Gone," and "Shutter Island." It's based on a short story of his called "Animal Rescue." Short stories are always risky source material for a movie because there's rarely enough content to justify a feature-length film. Maybe that was the case here, and the added stuff Lehane used to beef up the story was a load of crap. Not having read the story, I don't know.
Director Michael R. Roksam bears some of the blame. Roksam should have known that the screenplay was a mess, and insisted that someone clean it up. Or maybe it made sense on paper and was destroyed in the editing room. Regardless, this is one of those pretentious movies where the characters talk and talk but say nothing. It's one of those movies where the characters argue about bar stools and car trunks. It brought to mind the burger conversation in "Pulp Fiction," but that is a whole lot different. Tarantino's movies tend to be dialogue heavy, even when they're not talking about anything of consequence. But Tarantino's movies are filled with wit and life. The same cannot be said about Lehane's script, where it's all anger and ego.
The cast is lost among the crap. Tom Hardy is strangely muted. He was on my list of actors to watch since I saw him as Shinzon in "Star Trek: Nemesis," and he has continuously impressed me with his talent and versatility. But either he is miscast or the part is just badly written (my vote leans toward the latter), but Bob isn't very interesting. Hardy's best performances allow him to dominate the screen in some way, but Bob is low-key and ineffectual. He's not as bad as he was in "Lawless," but it's only a step up. Poor Noomi Rapace. A highly talented Swedish actress, she's been given virtually nothing to do here. I thought her performance as Lisbeth Salander was slightly overrated, but she's too good to be wasted like this. And being the last completed film of James Gandolfini, it bears the distinction of being the second horrible epitaph for a good actor (the other being Paul Walker's "Brick Mansions"). He does what he can, but there's no saving the film. Matthias Schoenaerts makes it easy to hate him, but his role is so poorly explained that his efforts are wasted as well.
Frankly, the only interesting scenes in this movie are the ones where Bob is learning how to raise the dog. They're the only ones that have any sort of coherency, and boy is that little dog adorable!
Starring: Tom Hardy, James Gandolfini, Noomi Rapace, Matthias Schoenaerts, John Ortiz, James Frecheville, Ann Dowd
Rated R for Some Strong Violence and Pervasive Language
The good thing about filmmakers taking chances is that they can do something unexpected and brilliant. "Kick-Ass" is a fine example. Matthew Vaughn tried to make a legitimate superhero movie while poking fun at it at the same time. Doing so is a difficult balancing act, and by risking it all instead of doing something safe and conventional, he made what is probably the best superhero movie since "The Dark Knight." The opposite is also true. If a filmmaker is untalented or flexing his ego, the film can be a disaster. That's what happened with "The Drop."
Generally speaking, I like to set up the story to give my readers an idea of what the film is about. That's not possible here because after viewing it, I haven't the slightest clue what is going on in this movie. It starts out with the main character, Bob (Hardy) telling us how money drops work, and how the bar he works at was robbed, but after that, I got lost very quickly. It's all subplots. The only storyline that makes any sense is the one where Bob finds a beaten up pitbull puppy in the garbage (it's not graphic, thankfully) and takes it into his home. That's how he meets Nadia (Rapace), on whose property the dog was found (and yes, they fall for each other), and Eric Deeds (Schoenaerts), the dog's nasty former owner.
Putting it simply, the film's plot is a mess. Characters float in and out, storylines are introduced then ignored, and the characters talk and talk but don't say anything of interest. The film was written by Dennis Lehane, whose novels served as the basis for movies such as "Mystic River," "Gone Baby Gone," and "Shutter Island." It's based on a short story of his called "Animal Rescue." Short stories are always risky source material for a movie because there's rarely enough content to justify a feature-length film. Maybe that was the case here, and the added stuff Lehane used to beef up the story was a load of crap. Not having read the story, I don't know.
Director Michael R. Roksam bears some of the blame. Roksam should have known that the screenplay was a mess, and insisted that someone clean it up. Or maybe it made sense on paper and was destroyed in the editing room. Regardless, this is one of those pretentious movies where the characters talk and talk but say nothing. It's one of those movies where the characters argue about bar stools and car trunks. It brought to mind the burger conversation in "Pulp Fiction," but that is a whole lot different. Tarantino's movies tend to be dialogue heavy, even when they're not talking about anything of consequence. But Tarantino's movies are filled with wit and life. The same cannot be said about Lehane's script, where it's all anger and ego.
The cast is lost among the crap. Tom Hardy is strangely muted. He was on my list of actors to watch since I saw him as Shinzon in "Star Trek: Nemesis," and he has continuously impressed me with his talent and versatility. But either he is miscast or the part is just badly written (my vote leans toward the latter), but Bob isn't very interesting. Hardy's best performances allow him to dominate the screen in some way, but Bob is low-key and ineffectual. He's not as bad as he was in "Lawless," but it's only a step up. Poor Noomi Rapace. A highly talented Swedish actress, she's been given virtually nothing to do here. I thought her performance as Lisbeth Salander was slightly overrated, but she's too good to be wasted like this. And being the last completed film of James Gandolfini, it bears the distinction of being the second horrible epitaph for a good actor (the other being Paul Walker's "Brick Mansions"). He does what he can, but there's no saving the film. Matthias Schoenaerts makes it easy to hate him, but his role is so poorly explained that his efforts are wasted as well.
Frankly, the only interesting scenes in this movie are the ones where Bob is learning how to raise the dog. They're the only ones that have any sort of coherency, and boy is that little dog adorable!
You're way off on this one. I'm not sure if we saw the same film. I'm also not sure why you had a hard time following the plot. That makes me wonder if you are even qualified to write a proper review. You're also off about Hardy. It's his best performance to date and he's on a short list for an Oscar.
ReplyDeleteDo you mind if I post a link for my review of The Drop? It will give people an opposing opinion on the film. Maybe this is a good idea for a site. Two people review the same movie with opposite views. That's what I love about movies. Two people can see the same film and come out feeling totally different.
Help yourself. Apart from the insult, I appreciate the comment.
ReplyDelete