'The Drop' reminds us of what Gandolfini always did well: providing support, heft, and color, in the tradition of our finest character actors.

| Jun 18, 2016

The film is just three degrees off being brilliant yet is always creepingly moving, and I loved its lived-in squalor.

| Jan 5, 2015

As a vehicle for those two actors, The Drop is gangbusters.

| Jan 5, 2015

It's a classic case of a little becoming a lot onscreen on the basis of a single impressive performance.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 5, 2015

Lehane, the hardboiled master, has almost gone soft here.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 5, 2015

I have the distinct impression the film could have slid off into the territory of the hokey, or at least forgettable. Thankfully, Hardy and Gandolfini have it under control.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 5, 2015

For all its ponderous tone and pedigree, this remains lightweight stuff, rehashing familiar neo-noir riffs while over-exercising its central "dog's life" metaphor.

| Nov 16, 2014

A gangster film that is elevated above that genre by the presence of Gandolfini, just as he pushed The Sopranos beyond, well, everything that came before.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 14, 2014

The performances are as rich and moody as the cinematography.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 14, 2014

There's something especially poignant about watching an actor who is no longer with us doing, one final time, what he did best.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Nov 14, 2014

Surprisingly, the interchanges between Gandolfini and Hardy compare favourably with those between Rod Steiger and Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 14, 2014

The Drop is the last film Gandolfini made before his death. As send-offs go, it ain't too shabby.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 14, 2014

It is a gripping drama, showing how crime is partly a planned and intelligible activity, in which gangsters ruthlessly prosecute clearly defined interests, but also partly random, irrational and almost arbitrary.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 13, 2014

Obvious and familiar in outline, the plot also has its share of pointless complications, mostly involving "backstory" from 10 years earlier.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Nov 13, 2014

Give it a go if only to see Gandolfini shine one last time.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 13, 2014

The cute puppy almost steals the show but Hardy is ace and quite the watchable chameleon in his surprising switch from lovable dumb ox to cannier-than-we-thought.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 10, 2014

You have to sit through the slow parts to savor the cool parts. The movie's little surprise is that you didn't waste your time watching it; you were just being primed for an explosion of low volume and high impact.

| Oct 16, 2014

This is a movie you stumble across when hunting for something to watch: goodish, with the right dreary atmosphere.

| Sep 24, 2014

The entire film vibrates with understated tension, but almost never raises its voice above a hissed threat or a discomfited mutter.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 17, 2014

Not that it needed demonstrating, but Hardy once again shows what quiet force and phenomenal range he has. He's like a young Liam Neeson with Michael Fassbender chops.

| Sep 12, 2014