I have a thing where I’ll only watch the first 30 seconds or so of a movie trailer. I figure that if I’m won over in that time span, chances are that I will end up liking the film. I remember seeing my older brother doing that very same thing a few years ago, and thinking that it was an odd thing to do. In the meantime, I began to regard most trailers better than the movies themselves. I eventually came to understand why he did that. In my opinion, the worse or less you see of the trailer, the lower your expectations, and the better the film is. I think that in the end, I’ve developed trailer-phobia.

While I did only watch the first little bit of the trailer for The Drop, I could have forgone seeing that. Merely knowing that Tom Hardy was starring in it was enough for me to pay for a ticket to the theatre. I know that we shouldn’t judge actors based on their looks alone, but I think that I missed half of the film because I was staring at his beautiful face. Sorry Geoff. This has to be said. Tom Hardy, you are God’s gift to married, single, dating, and widowed men and women everywhere. Amen. :-)

I suppose I should say something about the movie itself. Based on the short story, Animal Rescue, The Drop is about a bartender named Bob (Hardy) who is employed by his cousin Marv (James Gandolfini), and the pair become involved in a robbery gone wrong. Bob goes on to meet a waitress named Nadia (Noomi Rapace) who ultimately has a key role in his life, and who also has dangerous connections of her own. In my humble opinion, Rapace hasn’t really shone since starring in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy, but she does do a convincing job playing a tortured soul. Maybe that’s her niche. There’s nothing that I can say about Gandolfini that you aren’t already aware of. He plays a broken man in this role, and you witness him transforming his lines into heartbreaking situations. Given that it was the last movie that he ever made, I would say that it was a very fitting sendoff. Ann Dowd, who played Marv’s sister Dottie, also did an outstanding job with her small but vital role. I wish that she would have had a bigger part in the film.

The real star, aside from Hardy, was his puppy Rocco. After being found beaten in a trash can, he is taken in by Bob and Nadia. He gets named after St. Rocco, the patron saint of dogs, the sick, and falsely accused people. St. Rocco’s patronage inevitably correlates greatly with Bob’s own story, and for the better part of the film, the story revolves around the love and devotion between Bob and Rocco.

Whether you like intelligently adapted stories, outstanding acting, crime films, adorable pit bull puppies, or scrumptious lips to stare at, you should be going to the theatre to see this movie. It is finally an action flick for both genders. If you don’t believe me, then believe Rotten Tomatoes. They rated The Drop at 88%. Probably because of Rocco’s cuteness. And Tom Hardy’s.

<3

Emory