‘The Drop’ reviews: A well-acted shaggy-dog noir, critics say

You might call the new crime drama “The Drop” a shaggy-dog noir with an actual dog at its center. Starring Tom Hardy, James Gandolfini (in his final performance) and Noomi Rapace, it tells the story of a solitary Brooklyn bartender who rescues a pit bull puppy and also gets pulled deeper into the local underworld.

In generally positive reviews of the Dennis Lehane-scripted, Michael R. Roskam-directed film, critics are saying “The Drop” is a well-acted tale with a keen sense of place, although it drags at times.

Offering a measured review, the Times’ Kenneth Turan says “The Drop” is “well-shot with a neo-noir feel” and “always visually convincing.” The downside, though, is that “the plotting and even the acting aren’t always as plausible as the atmosphere.”

Among the cast, Turan says that third-billed Gandolfini impresses most, sometimes at the expense of his co-stars. The actor uses his “compelling presence and great expertise to present himself in a way that seems not like acting but simply being. His unself-conscious authenticity makes it inevitable that the other presentations, no matter how skilled, simply don’t ring as true.”

The New York Times’ A.O. Scott says the movie’s “material may be warmed over, but the writing is meaty and pulpy enough to sustain a handful of satisfying performances.” He adds, “Roskam’s direction is gratifyingly loose. He lets the story, which is really the least interesting part of the movie, more or less take care of itself, allowing us to savor pungent morsels of dialogue and bits of low-key actorly showboating.”

In the end, Scott writes, “There is nothing especially believable about ‘The Drop,’ but it is credible enough to be moderately entertaining, and vice versa.”

The Wall Street Journal’s Joe Morgenstern agrees that “The Drop” is “less than top-drawer Lehane but well worth watching all the same.” Roskam directs “with extraordinary skill and subtlety,” Gandolfini is “effective and affecting,” and Rapace does “nice work in a minor key.” But it’s Hardy, Morgenstern says, who takes center stage: “Here’s a far-from-minor performance by a major star in the making.”

The Washington Post’s Ann Hornaday declares “The Drop” a “taut, atmospheric, exceedingly well-written thriller.” She adds that it’s “so convincingly conceived, so detailed and acutely observed, that each of [the film’s] houses … could be the setting for its own movie.”

As for Hardy, Hornaday says, he “earns instant sympathy from the audience as a man who seems always to be two steps behind — until he displays startling acumen at the most unlikely (and startlingly grisly) moments.”

The Chicago Tribune’s Michael Phillips writes, “As a performance vehicle ‘The Drop’ does the job. As a story, and an uncertainly padded script, the movie lurches and lets us get out ahead of its developments.” Lehane adapted the script from his short story “Animal Rescue,” and according to Phillips, he has trouble transforming it into “a satisfying two-hour experience.”

USA Today’s Claudia Puig says “The Drop’s” “terrific cast and punchy dialogue make it particularly worth seeing, bringing energy to a deliberately-paced tale that occasionally feels plodding.” And, she asks, “who can resist an animal rescue?”

Follow @ogettell for movie news