“The Drop”

Rated R for some strong violence and pervasive language.

“Shutter Island,” “Mystic River,” “Gone Baby Gone,” and now “The Drop” are cinematic treatments of the literary works of writer Dennis Lehane. His prose, transformed to screen, soaks the lucky film fan’s mind and soul in modern noir and creates a glorious miasmic cloud of grit and sordidness that is nearly tactile. Actors of the highest skill surely dream to one day be given the chance to transform into a Lehane dark, hyper-realistic character. They visually wallow in the multi-dimensional creations of Lehane’s imagination; all for our pleasure.

Bob Saginowski (Tom Hardy) tends bar in a seedy section of Brooklyn. The bar is a “drop” for the Chechen Mafia. A “drop” is where mob money is collected from bookies until retrieved by the bosses who, on occasion, take more than a modicum of pleasure by impaling weasels with railroad spikes to indicate their displeasure with the aforementioned being a tad late on a loan. Bob’s cousin (James Gandolfini for one last time) is kind of a jerk. He once owned the bar but had to sell to gangsters to pay off debts. The bar is called Cousin Marv’s so you know nary a guy with loafers sans socks in this type joint.

Bob, when we first meet him, seems a little slow; gentle to be sure, but frankly not exactly sparking in the areas of cerebral gyrations or charismatic mesmerism. He is a nice guy; so nice that while walking home (his departed parents’ house) he hears the cries of a beaten puppy thrown in the trashcan. While retrieving the sweet bundle of canine cuddly cuteness, the dweller of the house comes out demanding to know what he thinks he is doing. She is a bit odd, this one. Her name is Nadia (Noomi Rapace) and she acts a little paranoid and apparently has a history of self-mutilation. Clearly Bob is smitten by Nadia. One wounded bird has feelings for another. They bond over Puppy Rocco … or do they?

Anyway, some morons hold up the bar and the real owners are a tad miffed even if the take is only about $5,000. (The pickup had occurred before the heist.) Nevertheless the money is retrieved in the gentle manner for which the Chechen Mafia is famous. Who returned the money is a bit unclear.

Then a real slime ball starts threatening Bob. He was Rocco’s and maybe Nadia’s abuser. This slice of menace is psycho Eric Deeds (Matthias Schoenaerts) and Bob gets a bit of the Evil — I mean Eric — Deeds treatment himself.

I have left a few things out, of course, but soon, Bob, the sometimes narrator of the tale, warns us that sometimes it is too late for us. The devil is simply waiting to claim us; or maybe not. Bob, being threatened by nearly everybody, feels the pressure to protect Rocco and Nadia. But what is a lonely schlub to do?

Belgian Michaël R. Roskam makes his U.S. debut by showing respect for Mr. Lehane’s short story (Animal Rescue) with the respect it deserves. What could have been the butchering of a fine story to make tasteless film-sausage is, under the control; “Chef” Roskam, a masterful treatment, a fine gourmet noir movie meal, a visual feast of superlative acting and story-telling, and the antithesis of the mindless make-me-happy and forget my troubles pap. I am hungry for more of this type fare.

“The Drop” earns four out of five bow ties.