James Gandolfini’s final movie release, following his death in June last year, is about to open at cinemas nationwide and as you’d hope for the Sopranos actor it’s a gritty story of organised crime in the dark underbelly of Brooklyn. The film is called The Drop and it sees Gandolfini teaming up with Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road) to pitch in with a hard hitting modern mob tale that looks set to act as a fitting farewell to the actor.
While Hardy hasn’t necessarily starred in this kind of film in the past, his performance as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises and as Charlie Bronson in Bronson will have given him a good taste of acting on the wrong side of the tracks. Gandolfini, on the other hand, has had eight years as mob boss Tony Soprano in The Sopranos, so he had a lot of experience to draw on for the film.
Release date
The Drop has been confirmed for a release date in the US and UK cinemas on the 12th September 2014, bringing a whole lot of grit to the big screen as summer starts to come to an end. However, the movie will be getting its World Premier as one of the Special Presentations at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, which runs between the 4th and the 14th September this year.
Storyline
The storyline looks like it will end up getting a whole lot more complex as the film develops, but on the face of things the film centres around bartender, Bob Saginowski (Hardy), who works in a small bar in Brooklyn called Cousin Marv’s Bar. However, along with former owner, Marv (Gandolfini), he’s up to the barrel in the dirty money that filters through the bar, which has become one of New York’s biggest drop bars, where ill-gotten finances are dropped to be laundered.
The seemingly relaxed, family business is not quite as in-control as it first appears though as Bob and Marv find themselves caught between the increasing investigations of the police and a crew of Chechen mobsters, who have transformed the neighbourhood from the tough and respectful past to a mean present day. With more than meets the eye laced into every scene of the trailer below, we’re betting on a few twists before all of the business is done.
Cast
As well as James Gandolfini in the fairly familiar territory of New York hood and Hardy’s slightly more stretching casting, complete with Brooklyn accent, the film also stars Noomi Rapace (Prometheus), Matthias Schoenaerts (Bullhead) and John Ortiz (Silver Linings Playbook). Relative newcomers James Frecheville, Patricia Squire, Matthias Schoenaerts and Erin Darke also have roles in the 2014 release.
Production
The Drop has been written by Dennis Lehane, author of Gone, Baby, Gone and Shutter Island, as well as being directed by Belgium director Michaël R. Roskam, who picked up a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for his debut, Bullethead, which also featured Schoenaerts. The music at the dark heart of the film has been produced by composer Marco Beltrami, whose previous work includes Guillermo Del Toro’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark and The Woman in Black.
The film was completed in 2013 with an initial title of Animal Rescue, but it was changed earlier this year to The Drop.
First impressions
With Tom Hardy, James Gandolfini and Noomi Rapace in the main roles, a story from the Lehane and direction from Roskam we should be in for a gritty and realistic delivery that paints a dark picture of crime in Brooklyn. This will undoubtedly be backed up by a tense and dramatic score from Beltrami, so we’ve got high hopes for The Drop.
 film stars Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini in his final movie with the release date, trailer and movie details from the film section of Tuppence Magazine.){kind=link}