american crime drama set in a large city would not normally appeal
that format relentlessly hammered on way too many trash tv shows
which usually sees me tuning out and looking for other distractions
but the opposite here - drawn to this film based on reviews and actors
namely james gandolfini in his last role and swedish star noomi rapace
it is modern day brooklyn and the film centered around cousin marv's bar
marv (gandolfini) used to own the joint but lost it to the chechnyan mafia
his cousin bob (tom hardy) is the barman while marv plays owner/manager
opening scenes set in the bar and explaining the significance of 'the drop'
this where a random bar is selected for nightly deliveries of dirty money
all part and parcel of the real underground activities in seedy brooklyn
on one night a armed holdup by two masked men means $5k is stolen
the mob come visiting with a gruesome demonstration of their intent
their money needs to be recovered or the consequences are very ugly
we see scenes of bob as the lonely, single and reserved person he is
regular church-goer though he has no contact with other parishioners
one day when walking home he recovers an injured puppy from a bin
a conversation with the bin's owner unaware the dog had been dumped
nadia (rapace) admitting her jealous psychotic ex-boyfriend eric to blame
bob agrees to take on the dog - pit bull - and brings it back to good health
despite the ex-boyfriend and confessed murderer menacing bob and nadia
animal rescue - the film's book title - and the suggested dog/man parallels
i'm hooked - every character offers something interesting and engaging
there's a palpable feeling of something very gently being brought to boil
the first major twist is when marv is shown organising the next robbery
having plotted the last one on his own bar as part of a grander scheme
essentially to set the chechnyans up to select his bar on superbowl night
marv has got money issues - and cashing in on the drop is too tempting
eric is in with marv and has forced nadia to accompany him at the bar
this on drop night and marv has taken a sickie - too close to the action
the tension is now cranked up with a sense of dread now quite pervasive
very clever script, dialogue, acting and directing getting us to this point
and then the total unexpected happens - our gentle bob has a dark side
he confronts eric the robber (and woman harrasser) and blows him away
very disturbing scenes of a man shot in the neck and bleeding to death
this in front of nadia who is seen very convincingly going into shock
bob providing some consolation saying eric will never trouble her again
meanwhile james gandolfini (marv) is seen in his last ever film scene
blown away by the chechnyan hoods he was plotting to double-cross
they then show up at the bar and set about cleaning up the bloody mess
bob now seen as an ally and appointed as the new manager of the joint
but there's some more personal issues that he needs to also take care of
bob seen attaching the leash to the dog and 'we gotta do something rocco'
this some days later and a daytime walk to nadia's house who meets him
she seems in shock still and bob offers 'tell me to go and i will walk away'
a few seconds of film magic and then 'hold on - i'll go and get my coat'
brilliant - a happy ending it seems to a significantly intense film
hard to fault really - casting superb as much as the directing
dane michael roskan adding some european sentimentality
noomi rapace also helping out there amongst the yanks
vale james gandolfini - you went out with a bang...
