Rarely does Tom Hardy play as calmly and reservedly as in The Drop. That’s why the thriller drama with co-stars like James Gandolfini on Disney+ is a real discovery.
Tom Hardy is not yet Nicolas Cage, but he is well on his way. Through his more recent roles, such as in the Venom films, the British star has apparently come to love characters for whom he throws himself into pure madness. Quite similar to Cage, who can spice up even dull B-movies with his crazy presence.
But Hardy’s strong physicality, which effortlessly carries a film like the anti-MCU blockbuster on his broad shoulders, also works in the other direction. This is proven, for example, by a film like The Drop – Cash, which can be streamed on Disney+ with a subscription. To this day, it is unfortunately rarely mentioned in connection with the star’s best films.
What is The Drop with Tom Hardy about?
The film by director Michaël R. Roskam is based on the short story Animal Rescue by best-selling author Dennis Lehane and is about the quiet bartender Bob (Tom Hardy). The bar used to belong to Bob’s cousin Marv (James Gandolfini), but now it is owned by the mafia because of his debts.
Watch the German trailer for The Drop here:
In addition to Bob’s normal work as a silent, hard-working employee, the bar also serves as a so-called drop bar. On certain days, the Mafia uses the premises to deposit the proceeds of criminal business.
The situation comes to a dramatic head when Bob takes in a sweet pit bull puppy that allegedly belongs to psychopathic gangster Eric (Matthias Schoenaerts), and the bar is robbed and looted.
In The Drop, Tom Hardy shines with quiet tension and intense seething
The actor who would normally be seen lounging in a lobster tank with a glowing head for a hyperactive movie like Venom is nowhere to be seen in The Drop. Instead, Hardy plays his Bob with an almost tender calm that nevertheless has something unsettling about it.
The star never drifts into the realms of his craziest characters and retains a composure in the role of the bartender, under which dark abysses and seething potential for violence mix.
Tom Hardy doesn’t have to carry The Drop alone
Much of Tom Hardy’s strong impact in The Drop also has to do with the setting and co-stars. At its core, the film is a drama about broken lives, the spiral of violence and wistful regret, in which a melancholy mood mixes with the deadly escalations of the gangster milieu.
Even though Tom Hardy could carry this movie all by himself with his charismatic presence, he doesn’t have to. He also gets acting support from the great James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), who can be seen here in one of his last roles after his death in 2013.
Also interesting: first pictures of the long-awaited Netflix thriller with Tom Hardy
Together, Hardy and Gandolfini give their cousins a touching forlornness, in which compassion and understanding for their increasingly hopeless situation are repeatedly put to the test by harsh shocks. But that’s exactly what makes The Drop, which fights against ultimate hopelessness and also lets light shine into the lives of the characters, such a great movie.
