Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini built careers on unforgettable roles that helped shape modern film and television, with acclaimed projects like Inception and The Sopranos among the standout titles on their résumés. That level of success not only raises an actor’s profile and reputation but can also become a double-edged sword, with other, no less impactful, performances flying under the radar. That is where the gangster thriller, The Drop, finds itself. Released in 2014, during the height of Hardy’s blockbuster rise between films like The Dark Knight Rises and Mad Max: Fury Road, and with Gandolfini having already played one of the most iconic mob bosses of all time, The Drop was always going to struggle to become a breakout hit, especially on a $12.6 million budget.
However, The Drop has been unfairly overlooked in this case. The film’s grounded approach prioritizes interpersonal tension over the large-scale mob wars typically associated with the genre, which makes it feel refreshingly intimate. Additionally, the exceptional chemistry between Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini results in two performances that rank among the actors’ best, conveying The Drop‘s complex subtext with the subtlest of inflections.
‘The Drop’ Turns the Gangster Genre Into a Slow-Burn Character Study
Many gangster crime narratives focus on the leaders of mob families vying for power, with The Godfather as the classic example. Even movies considered to be grittier and less stylized, such as Goodfellas, still take place within the sphere of an Italian mob family, where the rise of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) is the central drive of the film. Instead, The Drop focuses on the very ground level, with Tom Hardy’s Bob and James Gandolfini’s Cousin Marv running a “drop bar” where Chechen gangsters store their money on a random night. After the bar is robbed, Bob and Marv live in paranoia. With the Chechens pressuring them to return the money, Bob facing threats from an abusive dog owner after rescuing his dog, and the paranoia that Marv may be involved in the robbery, The Drop is a slow burn.
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This heightening of tension in every scene allows Bob and Marv to be fully explored on a micro level, as we see them constantly reacting to keep themselves safe, dancing around each other as they lose their trust. We learn about Marv’s self-delusions as he sees himself as more powerful than he is, and Bob’s quiet, introverted personality begins to hint at something far more sinister below the surface. In doing so, The Drop makes the characters, rather than their machinations, the central focus of the film.
Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini Deliver Career-Best Performances in ‘The Drop’
Tom Hardy and Gandolfini’s dynamic in The Drop is unquestionably the highlight of the film. Despite being so synonymous with Tony Soprano, Gandolfini made a remarkable achievement in making Marv unique in his own right. While Tony is an explosive individual struggling with depression, Marv is a low-level criminal who is desperate to cling to his supposed glory days, creating a quieter, yet far more bitter performance from Gandolfini in which his ranting conveys less anger and more desperation. Bob, on the other hand, is perfect for Hardy, as only the British actor could portray a quiet, blunt individual with such quiet intensity.
During a scene where the two confront each other over the issue of the robbery, this dynamic magnificently comes to light. Bob makes a point of being “respected” and “feared,” with an exclamation that his private bar stool “meant something,” sounding like Gandolfini is about to choke up. Hardy, in contrast, remains quiet, using his signature stare with a glint in the eye to unsettle both Marv and the audience, and his mumble, “But it didn’t, ever,” in response to Marv completely undercuts his deluded self-perception. Scenes like this are dotted throughout The Drop and emphasize just how lucky the audience is to watch two fantastic actors going back and forth in tense scenes.
In the end, it may not end up on everyone’s top 10 lists of Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini’s greatest performances, but that doesn’t mean The Drop is a weak film by any stretch. In fact, it is still one of their best films and a fascinating character study for the pairing, reworking the gangster criminal genre to focus on the characters rather than the power struggle. Even when characters like Marv do vie for power, it is done in a way that is almost tragic, highlighting the character’s flaws, and making The Drop the next film that demands your viewing.
- Release Date
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September 12, 2014
- Runtime
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106 minutes
- Director
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Michael R. Roskam
- Writers
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Dennis Lehane
