Hello, true cinephiles! Welcome back to another review from Árelor, Lord of Rage and Revenge, who will smite any bad film He find in His path with a +3 Broadsword of Holy Fire!

Shall The Drop, with Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini, suffer His punishment?

The Drop is a crime film. It follows the story of Bob Saginowski and his cousin, who run a bar owned by the Eastern Europe Mafia. The bar is one of many in a network of business the Mafia uses for storing and moving dirty money which cannot be deposited in the bank. The arrangement works fine for the barmen until somebody sets a plan in motion to steal the Mob's money the bar is storing, and Bob, whose only ambition in life is tending the bar and avoiding trouble, sees himself pressured by his crime lords to get the issue fixed.

Meanwhile, Bob adopts a Pit Bull puppy he finds abbandoned in a trashcan, but this eventually only plunges him in a world of problems, because the local tough guy, a psychotic thug known for some high profile killings in the neighbourhood, starts extorting Bob, threatening him to kill the puppy should he not be paid.

Somehow, the writers manage to connect both plots in such a way that they just flow with the movie and reach joint closure by the end of the film. I think this is a meaningful feat. The Mafia plot and the Puppy plot both happen in parallel but you don't ever feel like you are watching two plots unfold.

Árelor's might usually strikes films that attempt to glorify the neighbourhood ganstah' lifestyle, because they are usually very cheesy and very bad at it. The Drop, however, sets atmosphere the right way. You can tell the bar is one in a working neighbourhood. They really manage to convey the idea that the bar it is the sort of corner business stevedors and football fans visit. It has a very down to Earth feeling, and the bar comes across as a realistic protrayal of a property of an organized criminal gang without the need of having black ganstah's playing basketball and listening to hip-hop in front of it.

At that, I must commend Michael Aronov for his portrayal of Chovka, the Mafia's visible face in the movie. He plays the role of a laid back business man who is tending his family's business in a dispassionate way. However, every time he shows up in screen, you cannot but feel that behind his easy going personality and his charming manners there's a monster, waiting for his turn to pop up and sink some sucker in the bay.

In fact, performances are A grade in general. Matthias Schoenaerts delivers a down to Earth sense of danger as a mentally ill thug who is obsessed with Bob's puppy. Gandolfiny, as Bob's cousin, made of this film his last role ever before his premature demise, and plays a bitter man who hates the fact he is a pawn for the Mafia. Still, he is a scumbag himself and the audience gets to love to hate him.

The big prize, however, goes to Tom Hardy. His role as Bob is just golden, but the audience will only realize how much of an acting genius Tom is when they watch the movie whole, see the pieces of the puzzle fall in place, and realize just how our hero's mind actually works inside. If Oscar prizes were worth for anything other than wipping your ass with them nowadays, I'd say this guy deserved one for this movie alone. He plays his character as if he was a
highly functional autist. You can tell he is not "right" despite the fact he does not do anything that may not become a normal person. He just feels "off" for some reason. I love that effect, but you get only to appreciate it in full at the movie's climax.

In clonclusion, a likable cast with awesome performances rooted on realistic, human street life, with characters you care about - even if you are like Árelor and hate humans, you will love the puppy! - makes for a film worth watching.

And thus, Árelor shall keep searching for bad films whose heart to burn in the eternal fires of His Hell, because The Drop is, sadly, quite a good film.



--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

---
￭ Synchronet ￭ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL

Hello Arelor!

** On Saturday 26.06.21 - 05:19, Arelor wrote to All:

The Drop is a crime film. It follows the story of Bob
Saginowski and his cousin, who run a bar owned by the
Eastern Europe Mafia.

I would say that the film's story is based in USA, NY or
thereabouts.

[...]

In clonclusion, a likable cast with awesome performances
rooted on realistic, human street life, with characters you
care about - even if you are like árelor and hate humans,
you will love the puppy! - makes for a film worth watching.

Yes.. it was quite "OK". I liked the dark mood, and the simple
story line. No high-speed car chases required. The menacing
tension emoted by the crime-lord characters was effective.

The mafia tensions/interrogation reminded me of similar effect
in Ozark.

The only weak point was Bob's explanation of his first killing
and what drove him to do it - him being otherwise, a calm,
meek, and nonthreatening individual.

I liked the funny bits about Irish not begin called
Irelandians, or Chechens don't speak Chechen.

Marv's killing seemed a bit weak. He squints just before the
fatal shot. A look of shock or horror might have worked better.

Loved your review. Once again, top-notch and funny.

The credits at the end indicated that the film is based on a
story by Dennis Lehane:

The Drop | Paperback
Dennis Lehane
HarperCollins | William Morrow Paperbacks
Fiction / Crime / Thrillers - Crime / Mystery & Detective - Hard-Boiled
Release date Dec 14, 2021
$16.99 US / $21.00 CA list price

Publishers are rereleasing many of Lehane's stories with new
covers this year and the next.


--- OpenXP 5.0.50
* Origin: Ogg's Dovenet Point (723:320/1.9)
■ Synchronet ■ CAPCITY2 * capcity2.synchro.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/Rlogin/HTTP

Re: The Drop (2014)
By: Ogg to Arelor on Tue Jun 29 2021 09:28 pm

The only weak point was Bob's explanation of his first killing
and what drove him to do it - him being otherwise, a calm,
meek, and nonthreatening individual.

You should be much more careful when dropping spoilers all around.

I think precisely that part is what rounds Bob's character up. He is a calm, meek nonthreatening individual who is a total ganster under the surface... the cop lampshades this very thing by the end of the film. I think it was very well done.


--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

---
■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL

Hello Arelor!

[This is a repost. I didn't seem my original on other dovenet
channels].

** On Wednesday 30.06.21 - 13:47, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

You should be much more careful when dropping spoilers all around.

Ooops. :( But I didn't expound on details.. so I thought that
wasn't a clear spoiler. Next time I will be more liberal with
ROT13 at any suspect spoiler.

I think precisely that part is what rounds Bob's character
up. He is a calm, meek nonthreatening individual who is a
total ganster under the surface... the cop lampshades this
very thing by the end of the film. I think it was very well
done.

The after-SuperBowl night barscene was a surprise reveal.

But I wouldn't agree with your prognosis that he was autistic.
Autistics generally cannot lie.

I suppose we'd have to read the original story to know what the
author, Dennis Lehane, had in mind for the origins and motives
of his created character.

--- OpenXP 5.0.50
* Origin: Ogg's Dovenet Point (723:320/1.9)
■ Synchronet ■ CAPCITY2 * capcity2.synchro.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/Rlogin/HTTP

Re: The Drop (2014)
By: Ogg to Arelor on Sat Jul 03 2021 05:55 pm

But I wouldn't agree with your prognosis that he was autistic.
Autistics generally cannot lie.

I think Hardy pretty much stated that he was playing his character as if he had a high functional autist disorder.

If you watch the film you will notice Bob does not lie openly very much. In fact I am hard pressed to think of an instance of himself lying. He avoids telling the truth and lets people believe whatever they want to believe.

(I think he lies in one instance when he tells the cops the bar is not operated by the Mafia, but I'd have to rewatch the film to be sure.)
--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

---
■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL

Hello Arelor!

** On Sunday 04.07.21 - 05:26, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

But I wouldn't agree with your prognosis that he was
autistic. Autistics generally cannot lie.

I think Hardy pretty much stated that he was playing his
character as if he had a high functional autist disorder.

Ah.. ok, in that case.

But now, I'm curious to tackle the book version to see how
Dennis Lehane explains that character's behaviour.

If you watch the film you will notice Bob does not lie
openly very much. In fact I am hard pressed to think of an
instance of himself lying. He avoids telling the truth and
lets people believe whatever they want to believe.

He does not lie very much. But he does to the mob when he
denies knowing who the guy with the impaled/bleeding leg in the
van is. Avoidance to tell was something I noticed too.

If you ever feel interested in reading a story from the POV of
an autistic/asberger, check out "The Curious Incident of the
Dog in the Night-Time" (2003). It was unlike anything else
that I had read before. Even chapter numbers are "strange".

(I think he lies in one instance when he tells the cops the
bar is not operated by the Mafia, but I'd have to rewatch
the film to be sure.)

Yes.. I seem to recall that interview too.


--- OpenXP 5.0.50
* Origin: Ogg's Dovenet Point (723:320/1.9)
■ Synchronet ■ CAPCITY2 * capcity2.synchro.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/Rlogin/HTTP

Hello Arelor!

[This a REPOST of a message I made this morning, but didn't
seem to get distributed outside this BBS]

** On Sunday 04.07.21 - 05:26, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

But I wouldn't agree with your prognosis that he was
autistic. Autistics generally cannot lie.

I think Hardy pretty much stated that he was playing his
character as if he had a high functional autist disorder.

Ah.. ok, in that case.

But now, I'm curious to tackle the book version to see how
Dennis Lehane explains that character's behaviour.

If you watch the film you will notice Bob does not lie
openly very much. In fact I am hard pressed to think of an
instance of himself lying. He avoids telling the truth and
lets people believe whatever they want to believe.

He does not lie very much. But he does to the mob when he
denies knowing who the guy with the impaled/bleeding leg in the
van is. Avoidance to tell was something I noticed too.

If you ever feel interested in reading a story from the POV of
an autistic/asberger, check out "The Curious Incident of the
Dog in the Night-Time" (2003). It was unlike anything else
that I had read before. Even chapter numbers are "strange".

(I think he lies in one instance when he tells the cops the
bar is not operated by the Mafia, but I'd have to rewatch
the film to be sure.)

Yes.. I seem to recall that interview too.


--- OpenXP 5.0.50
* Origin: Ogg's Dovenet Point (723:320/1.9)
■ Synchronet ■ CAPCITY2 * capcity2.synchro.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/Rlogin/HTTP

I seem to recall watching The Drop. That was a pretty good movie.

$ The Millionaire $

---
￭ Synchronet ￭ Vertrauen ￭ Home of Synchronet ￭ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net