The Drop (film)

The Drop
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Michaël R. Roskam
Produced by	Peter Chernin Dylan Clark Mike Larocca
Written by	Dennis Lehane
Based on	Animal Rescue  by Dennis Lehane
Starring	Tom Hardy Noomi Rapace James Gandolfini Matthias Schoenaerts
Music by	Marco Beltrami[1]
Cinematography	Nicolas Karakatsanis
Edited by	Christopher Tellefsen
Production company	Chernin Entertainment
Distributed by	Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release dates	September 12, 2014 (2014-09-12)
Running time	106 minutes[2]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$12.6 million[3]
Box office	$18.7 million[4]

The Drop is a 2014 American crime drama film directed by Michaël R. Roskam, from a screenplay written by Dennis Lehane. The film is based on Lehane's 2009 short story "Animal Rescue". Lehane also adapted the script into a 2014 novel of the same name. The film stars Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and James Gandolfini (in his final role), with Matthias Schoenaerts, John Ortiz and James Frecheville in supporting roles. It was screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, and was released theatrically on September 12, 2014.^[5]

The film's 2014 release marked the late Gandolfini's final appearance in a feature film.^[6]

Plot

Bob Saginowski (Tom Hardy) is a bartender at a neighborhood bar in Brooklyn called "Cousin Marv's". Marvin Stipler (James Gandolfini) ceded ownership of the bar years earlier to Chechen mobsters and now operates it with Bob as a 'drop' for illegal takings. Marv berates Bob and some patrons for commemorating the 10th anniversary of the murder of a man named Richie Wheelan. Later at night, a neighbour, Nadia (Noomi Rapace), a local waitress, discovers Bob rescuing a battered pit bull pup abandoned in her garbage can. She assists Bob in caring for the dog. Bob leaves the dog in her care until he can decide whether to adopt him.

On another night, the bar is robbed by two masked gunmen. During the robbery, Bob notices that one of the gunmen is wearing a broken watch. Detective Torres (John Ortiz), who attends the same church frequented by Bob, shows up to investigate the aftermath. Marv is infuriated at Bob for informing Torres about the watch, providing the police an early lead on the culprits. The next day, Chovka, the face of the Chechen mob, shows up to question Marv and Bob about the robbery, asking the two of them whether or not they know a stranger impaled in the back of a van. He demands to know why the cops know about the broken watch, and warns Marv he must retrieve the money. It is later revealed to the viewer that Marv orchestrated the robbery by meeting with one of the perpetrators.

Bob eventually agrees to adopt the dog and names him Rocco, all the while bonding with Nadia, who agrees to care for him whenever Bob tends to the bar. While walking Rocco in a park, a passer-by, Eric Deeds (Matthias Schoenaerts) comments to Bob that Rocco is a nice looking dog.

Meanwhile, Marv's sister Dottie (Ann Dowd) informs Marv that a collection agency has been calling to settle their father's life support bills. She suggests that they should take him off life support, to which Marv disagrees. On his way into the bar, Marv begins to suspect he is being followed after providing directions to a stranger. Deeds appears at Bob's house and provides proof that he is the actual owner of Rocco and admits to beating and abandoning him. After demanding Rocco is returned, Deeds takes Bob's umbrella and leaves, without Rocco.

Later at the back of the bar, Bob and Marv discover a bag containing a severed arm with a broken watch together with the money. Bob disposes of the arm with an aloofness noticed by Marv. Shortly after, Bob is unnerved when Deeds appears in the bar and reveals he knows Nadia. Marv informs Bob that Deeds is a local thug who claims to have killed Richie Whelan. Bob confronts Nadia and asks her how well she knows Deeds, though Nadia is offended by the question and leaves.

Bob and Marv return the money to the Chechens, who in turn inform them that the bar will be the drop bar for the night of the Super Bowl.

Bob returns home to find Nadia waiting. Upon explaining that she and Deeds used to date, Bob accepts that Nadia was hiding the reason for her scars on her neck and they reconcile. Marv meets the other robber and, while driving, informs him of a plan to rob the bar again during the night of the Super Bowl. However, disturbed by the death of his partner, the robber refuses to take part and exits the car. Marv runs him over and kills him.

After walking Nadia to her home at night, Bob returns to his own home and discovers his umbrella, implying that Deeds was present. Marv later meets with Deeds to recruit him to rob the bar after the Super Bowl, knowing that Bob is unsettled by Deeds. Bob is later confronted by Deeds, who threatens to tell the police that Bob stole and beat Rocco unless Bob pays him $10,000. He insinuates to Bob that Rocco will likely be killed if he is returned.

Later, Marv informs Bob that he will be calling in sick on the day of the Super Bowl. Bob is suspicious Marv would miss out on the large number tips gained during a Super Bowl night, and asks him if he is planning on doing something desperate and "that they can't clean up" this time. Marv demands Bob leave, without answering his question. On the night of the Super Bowl and with Rocco in tow, Bob takes $10,000 hidden in his basement and hides it behind the bar counter together with a pistol. Meanwhile, Deeds breaks into Nadia's home and forces her to go to Cousin Marv's bar with him. Marv warns Deeds over the phone that Bob is not what he seems. Marv lines his trunk with plastic and heads to the bar, parking and waiting nearby. Various mobsters drop off money throughout the night.

Eventually the bar clears except for Deeds and Nadia. Nadia warns Bob that Deeds is armed. Deeds refuses Bob's offer of $10,000 as payment for adopting Rocco and threatens to kill Nadia if he does not open the time lock safe during the 90 second window that it will open at 2 AM. While they wait, Bob tells the story of Richie Whelan, making Deeds anxious. Marv was previously a loan shark and Richie owed him a significant amount of money, but Richie won a casino jackpot and was able to pay Marv back with part of his winnings. In order to cover Marv's own debts and prevent anyone knowing he was paid back, Marv had Bob murder Richie and dispose of the body. Deeds goes for his gun but Bob is quicker on the draw and fatally shoots Deeds. He tells a terrified Nadia that it is safe to leave, but not before telling Nadia that he killed Eric because he will hurt Rocco.

Later in the night, Bob is sitting at the bar with Rocco while the Chechens dispose of Deeds' body and collect the money from the drop. Chovka informs Bob he was aware of Marv's deceit and negotiated a deal with him that he would buy him a ticket to a safe place. Meanwhile, the stranger Marv suspected of following him earlier kills Marv in his car at point blank range. Chovka accepts Bob played no part in the robbery and provides him ownership of the bar as a reward.

Afterwards, Detective Torres visits Bob at the bar to offer condolences over Marv's death and to ask about the disappearance of Deeds. Torres tells Bob that Deeds was in a psychiatric ward at the time of Richie Whelan's death. Torres implies that he knows Bob is responsible for the disappearance of Deeds, as well as Whelan, saying, "No-one ever sees you coming, do they, Bob?". Later, Bob visits Nadia's home with Rocco and tells her that he knows she may not want to see him again, but, if so, he needs her to tell him so he knows that is, in fact, what she wants. Nadia offers to take a walk with him and Rocco but first says that she needs to go get her coat. She walks down a sidewalk behind the house while Bob waits, looking after her. The camera follows Bob's glance. There is no sign of Nadia, but footsteps are heard as the film ends.

Cast

Reception

Box office

The Drop opened in 809 theaters in North America and grossed $4,104,552, with an average of $5,074 per theater and ranking #6 at the box office. The film's widest release in the United States was 1,192 theaters and it ultimately earned $10,724,389 domestically and $7,933,992 internationally for a total of $18,658,381, above its budget of $12.6 million.^[4]

Critical response

The Drop received positive reviews from critics and has a "certified fresh" score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 178 reviews with an average score of 7.1 out of 10. The critical consensus states "There's no shortage of similarly themed crime dramas, but The Drop rises above the pack with a smartly written script and strong cast."^[7] The film also has a score of 69 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 36 critics indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[8] Particular praise was given to the performances of Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini.^[9][10]

References

External links

• Official website
• The Drop at the Internet Movie Database
• The Drop at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Drop at Metacritic
• The Drop at Box Office Mojo

Dennis Lehane Bibliography Kenzie-Gennaro novels A Drink Before the War (1994) Darkness, Take My Hand (1996) Sacred (1997) Gone, Baby, Gone (1998) Prayers for Rain (1999) Moonlight Mile (2010) Coughlin novels The Given Day (2008) Live by Night (2012) World Gone By (2015) Other works Mystic River (2001) Shutter Island (2003) Coronado: Stories (2006) The Drop (2014) Filmography Adaptations Mystic River (2003) Gone Baby Gone (2007) Shutter Island (2010) The Drop (2014) Live by Night (2017) Other The Wire "Dead Soldiers" "Refugees" "Clarifications" Boardwalk Empire "Resignation"