The Drop
Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: September 12, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
SalonAndrew O'HehirSep 11, 2014
I found this dark odyssey through an amoral dream Brooklyn curiously invigorating; it’s a masterful construction that held me rapt from first shot to last, that builds intense electrical energy and then releases it. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternSep 11, 2014
Mr. Hardy's Brooklyn accent is not only flawless — a Londoner by birth, he's a vocal chameleon who played a Welshman in "Locke" — but tinged, I do believe, with a blithe, spot-on tribute to a blue-collar guy from another borough, Ernest Borgnine's immortal Marty. Here's a far-from-minor performance by a major star in the making. Read full review
90
Village VoiceChuck WilsonSep 9, 2014
The Belgian Roskam, making only his second feature film, and his first in English, displays remarkable assurance, with both the actors and the film’s very American setting. He creates an escalating sense of dread, tinged with Lehane’s brand of mordant humor. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperSep 11, 2014
The Drop is filled with many such small, near-perfect moments where there’s so much more going on beyond the simple exchanges of dialogue. Read full review
88
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreSep 10, 2014
The Drop is a simmering thriller from the writer who gave us “Mystic River” and “Gone, Baby Gone,” a tale heavy with the weight of violence we know is coming. Read full review
80
Total FilmJamie GrahamJan 9, 2015
A sombre, ’70s-flavoured crime drama with strong, interior performances from Hardy, Gandolfini and Rapace. Feel the (slow)burn. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierSep 12, 2014
Like Gandolfini, the deep Brooklyn of The Drop is formidable, bona fide and memorable. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeySep 8, 2014
It's Hardy's performance, above everything else, that sneaks up on you. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliSep 12, 2014
The Drop's unpredictability is organic rather than sensationalistic. The movie doesn't pull surprises out of thin air for the sole purpose of shocking an audience - it lets them develop naturally. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceySep 12, 2014
The interest here is about watching Hardy, bouncing off Gandolfini and the other cast members, as a quiet man who has turned being underestimated into his primary survival skill. And all the while we wait for the moment when Bob the puppy grows into Bob the pit bull. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanSep 11, 2014
The story has overtones of “On the Waterfront.” Read full review
75
Portland OregonianJeff BakerSep 11, 2014
The Drop reminded me of "Killing Them Softly," based on a novel by another Boston crime master, George V. Higgins. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubSep 11, 2014
Hardy's performance takes a little bit of the sting away from seeing Gandolfini perform on a big screen for the last time. As irreplaceable as Gandolfini may be, it's invigorating to see a young actor elevating to similar heights right before your eyes. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigSep 11, 2014
Drop is based on Lehane's short story Animal Rescue, and the terrific cast and punchy dialogue make it particularly worth seeing, bringing energy to a deliberately-paced tale that occasionally feels plodding. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsSep 11, 2014
While director Michael Roskam lays the groundwork for a heist thriller, The Drop is fueled by character, not plot. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaSep 11, 2014
The Drop is just how I like my Tom Hardy – in nearly every scene. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversSep 11, 2014
Though The Drop covers familiar ground, it simmers with charged emotion. The image that lingers belongs to Gandolfini. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyJeff LabrecqueSep 10, 2014
While Gandolfini fills in the gaps and silences, Rapace never colors in her underwritten character, making her a glorified MacGuffin who hangs around far too long. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSep 11, 2014
The Drop could have been an ordinary crime drama, but it's elevated by extraordinary performances. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. ScottSep 11, 2014
Mr. 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. Read full review
70
The DissolveTasha RobinsonSep 10, 2014
The entire film vibrates with understated tension, but almost never raises its voice above a hissed threat or a discomfited mutter. For a film with so many life-or-death choices on the line, it’s almost perversely passive. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeSep 7, 2014
The city isn't the star of the film, nor is Lehane's excellent dialogue, and neither is Roskam, here making a sure-footed jump to America after his Belgian debut Bullhead. The picture belongs to Tom Hardy, whose astonishingly sensitive performance even the great James Gandolfini steps gently around. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin ChangSep 7, 2014
The Drop is at once upfront and highly effective in its manipulations, tugging at our heartstrings even as it flicks away at our nerves. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeMark FeeneySep 11, 2014
Hardy once again shows what quiet force and phenomenal range he has. Read full review
63
Washington PostAnn HornadaySep 11, 2014
It’s a credit to Lehane’s screenplay, director Michael R. Roskam’s restraint and a superb cast led by the masterful Tom Hardy that “The Drop” earns every sad-eyed glance and heart-tugging whimper. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsSep 11, 2014
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. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineJesse CataldoSep 9, 2014
With its optimistic ending, the film muddies its previous statements regarding the danger of unthinkingly hanging on to totems of the past. Read full review
62
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeSep 7, 2014
This is Tom Hardy‘s show, and any opportunity to see this actor exercise his skills merits attention. He, along with the rest of this top-notch ensemble, give “The Drop” far more than they get back. Read full review
60
EmpireAngie ErrigoNov 10, 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. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottSep 12, 2014
Without Hardy, The Drop would be in danger of becoming just another crime drama. With him, though, it's something else entirely -- something alive, tightly wound and irresistible. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfSep 9, 2014
Until the movie's cathartic showdown (and a few backstory revelations that impress too late), The Drop putters along in a dozy register, less a simmering pot than a cooling one. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Sep 10, 2014
Cultural authenticity seeps into the cracks of this low-key lowlife drama, whose best attribute is the pungent sense of place it possesses. Read full review
50
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallSep 10, 2014
The problem isn't entirely Lehane's script... It's the way Belgian director Michael R. Roskam, making his English language debut, is so visually uninspired by all this meanness. Read full review
42
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezSep 7, 2014
An uninspired movie, The Drop would be utterly forgettable if it weren't for the fact that you’re left wondering how all this talent created something so unexceptional. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinSep 12, 2014
Most thriller writers don’t aim so high: You really have to grapple with Lehane’s vision to see how tiresome it is. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovSep 10, 2014
James Gandolfini’s wintery silences and bitter outbursts are enough on their own to merit seeing this otherwise frustratingly vague slice of low-end Crooklyn crime life, but just barely. Read full review
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