Directed by: Michaël R. Roskam
Starring: Tom Hardy, James Gandolfini, Noomi Rapace, and Matthias Schoenaerts
Plot: A local bartender finds himself at odds with local criminals.
Review:
I feel like I could be biased towards this movie because this is exactly the kind of gangster movies I like. The guys in the pinstripes constantly talking about loyalty with an almost supernatural reach into each and every criminal enterprise don’t interest me. Or at least, I like it when those guys fall down, which I guess is the point. I am more into the local tough guys kind of movies. I highly recommend seeing Monument Ave (sometimes called Snitch) starring Denis Leary, which is a kindred spirit to this movie.
Tom Hardy does his best Rocky Balboa impression as Bob Saginowski, a local bartender working at a “drop bar,” a bar that serves as the bank for that night’s criminal enterprises. Hardy has a dopey charm in this one, never seeming to know the right thing to say but saying it anyway. It is a very entertaining performance to say the least. He works for his cousin, Marv, played by the late James Gandolfini in what I believe will be his last performance. He plays a washed up gangster who had his “empire” taken by a Ukrainian outfit. I guess it is a little on the nose for the star of “The Sopranos,” but it is a little different than Tony. Marv is who Tony could have ended up being if that series kept going: down on his luck, fallen from grace, impotent, so to speak.
The trouble starts when a couple of lowlifes stick up the bar, and than Bob rescues a dog that belongs to the wrong person, a local tough guy named Eric Deeds, played by Matthias Schoenaerts. The Ukrainians who actually run the bar are threatening Bob and Marv to get the money back, while Deeds wants his dog back even though he beats it. It’s all about the principle of the thing. It’s not about the money or vengeance or power or whatever other superficial motivation movies usually rest on this. The principle of anything is a far more interesting motivation in my opinion. It is intangible and an attack on one’s character.
Character means everything. Director Michael R. Roskam definitely gets that. He strips the movie of the usual Hollywood set dressing. The winter setting bundles up a lot of the sex appeal. Instead, you have the raw chemistry of Hardy and Noomi Rapace to warm you up. The gun slinging and car chases are no where to be seen. Instead, egos have staring contests and sometimes they a battle of wits. These battle of wits are too the point lacking so much of the stylized wordplay and heavy referencing that has replaced wit in this post-Tarantino era.
If I could describe it in one word: timeless. Ultimately, it doesn’t have the emotional impact to win awards or a slick style to make it a cult favorite, but it just tells its story well. At the end of the day, isn’t that what matters?
Rating: 8/10
