The crime genre is one that has had the pleasure of describing some of the greatest movies of all time, but it has described some really lousy ones as well. It’s one of the longer standing film genres in pop culture, so it’s developed a very specific set of clichés over the decades, and many filmmakers fail to deviate from them.
The Drop deviates a little bit, but it doesn’t really stand out all that much. There’s a lot of stuff here that we’ve seen before. And though the similarities to other movies in the genre don’t kill The Drop, they certainly keeps it from going the necessary step from good to great.
What we have here is a perfectly decent crime thriller, with grade-A acting, twists that don’t feel contrived and a narrative that is consistently entertaining. For the majority of the film we don’t really get anything particularly shocking or enthralling, just contentedly entertaining. It may not be fair for me to criticize a movie for not being brash or dangerous enough, but it comes from expectations. When I go see an R rated limited release crime thriller I suspect there to be something in it that sticks itself in my brain, but The Drop was just a little bit too forgettable.
Personal criticisms aside, The Drop is actually quite good. Tom Hardy’s protagonist starts off boring, but becomes more and more terrifying as his character becomes revealed to us. The acting, as I’ve already mentioned, is some of the best you’ll see in any movie this year; Hardy, Gandolfini and Schoenaerts all put in excellent performances. There isn’t anything wrong with the movie.
The Drops only sin is not being as good as it should have been. It’s definitely better then the other movies in theaters at the moment, but I wouldn’t expect to hear much about it come Oscar time; I don’t even really expect to remember much about it by then. The Drop is in that deadly zone between being mediocre and being fantastic; being popular and being underground. It’s one of those movies that you enjoy watching, but forget about until you find it in the five dollar bin at Wal-Mart six years later. It’s a well made movie and I applaud the filmmakers for making it, but I hope they do a little bit better next time.
As always, I thank you for reading. If you think that Guardians of The Galaxy is better than the drop (or have some other such foolish opinion) feel free to tell me via email at atchleyosaurus@gmail.com. You can also follow Atchley-O-Saurus on Facebook and Twitter. Check back later this week for more reviews, facts and fun!
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