Film No. 79 (2014) November 24th. 6.15 PM LUNA SX Fremantle.
I did enjoy The Drop. It's one of those quality thrillers where piece by piece each scene fits to form a three dimensional puzzle. Like all good films, there are some pieces more significant than others and so one is left to ponder the significance of each careful placement well after the screen has faded to black. For me however there is a flaw, it's with Marv (James Gandolfini), he lacks a credibility which I feel sure was not director Roskam's intention.
There were qualities only De Niro has previously exhibited to Tom Hardy's, Bob, the linchpin to all that The Drop stands for. The brooding bartender becomes our hero early and while he's not everything he seems, we root for him to the end. It's all to do with his commitment to the downtrodden; there's Nadia (Noomi Repace) a lady with both physical and mental scars and then Rocco, the pooch he rescues from Nadia's garbage bin. These are simple but effective scenes to get us onside.
Cousin Marv used to own the bar where drops are made. The drops take the form of illicit money paid to the new Chechnyan owner Chovka (Michael Avonov)for services rendered. The Drop evolved from a short story Animal Rescue (Dennis Lehane). The story goes that the title of the film was to be Animal Rescue however because there was less of a focus on the human/animal relationship and more on the bar, The Drop was chosen. It's the muddled cues about cousin Marv's past and the real connection he has with Bob, leading to the subsequent climax, that bothers me.
Don't get me wrong, I repeat, I enjoyed The Drop. I wanted it to be better, that's my issue. I haven't read the short story. As Dennis Lehane also wrote the screenplay I dare say there may be some enlightenment in the written version. Maybe I just wanted James Gandolfini to be better defined in his final role. I, like many others who continue to luxuriate in The Sopranos will miss him ..... Oh, and don't take my criticisms to heart, don't miss The Drop. 9GUMS
I think a strength of the film was the setting. In spite of sharing the same language I was transported to a place and culture that was so removed from our lifestyle that I was compelled to find out what was the story of these people's lives. How did they get to this & I was left wondering where did it go from here. Enjoyed it & cute dog didn't hurt either. Michelle
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