2013 was a pretty awful year for Hollywood in terms of the actors we lost, and perhaps no death was as shocking and unexpected as that of The Sopranos star James Gandolfini, who passed away from a heart attack at age 51 last June. However, filmgoers have still not seen the last of the prolific actor, who posthumously touched our hearts with the bittersweet romantic comedy Enough Said and is also set to star in an upcoming drama titled The Drop.
Today, the first images from The Drop, which also stars Tom Hardy as a bartender whose life takes an unusual turn after he rescues a wounded dog, have surfaced online, and you can check them out below. Of course, while seeing images of Gandolfini is a melancholy experience, I’m also looking forward to seeing his final performance. The actor was such an indomitable presence on screen, as any watchers of The Sopranos surely know, and crime dramas like The Drop were the kinds of movies he did best.
Gandolfini aside, The Drop is promising for a lot of reasons. In addition to Hardy, the film also stars Noomi Rapace and Matthias Schoenaerts, two tremendously talented actors who aren’t as well known in the United States as they should be. Furthermore, The Drop marks the English-language debut of Michaël R. Roskam, the same director behind the divisive Bullhead, so I think it’s safe to say that he will aim to subvert expectations yet again. And with such a terrific cast, Roskam really has his work cut out for him.
The fact that Dennis Lehane penned the source material, a short story called Animal Rescue, also bodes well for the project. Other stories by Lehane that have been adapted into movies include Shutter Island, Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River, and though it’s too early to say how The Drop will hold up against those modern classics, I’m certainly excited to find out.
Fox Searchlight will release The Drop on September 19.
