Reel Critics: ‘Drop’ and roll with this thriller

A foolish and poorly planned robbery is a core scene of many offbeat crime dramas. “The Drop” unfolds as a slow-burning thriller based on that premise. The gritty and realistic portrayal of underworld life in Brooklyn is a fitting finale for the “Soprano” talents of the late James Gandolfini.

But the real star of the film is Tom Hardy. He gives an Oscar-worthy performance as a bartender working in a mob-controlled dive bar. Money from gambling and drugs are dropped off in his bar’s safe for later pickup. Hardy’s understated take on the role pulls the audience into the dangerous world on the fringes of gangster life.

Noomi Rapace gained celebrity status as “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” She is perfectly cast as the emotionally wounded woman whose friends and lovers come from this urban subculture.

The film operates as an unflinching character study. The intense atmosphere is magnified by great writing, directing and acting from start to finish. The violent action is minimal and placed in service to the unrelenting tension always pulsating beneath the surface. It’s sure to get some attention from Academy voters.

—John Depko

*

Don’t answer this knock

If the NFL isn’t violent enough for you these days, there are two new movies out about women in peril. Save your money and rent after the Super Bowl.

“No Good Deed” is your typical home-invasion thriller starring Idris Elba as a suspected serial killer who escapes from prison. Colin (Elba) shows up at the Atlanta doorstep of Terri (Taraji P. Henson), asking to use her phone on a stormy night.

Perhaps it’s her Southern hospitality, perhaps it’s because the man looks like Idris Elba and is soaking wet, but the stay-at-home mom lets him inside. She gives him a change of clothes and even opens a bottle of wine when her flirty best friend shows up.

Meanwhile, the savvy audience is mentally shouting at these silly women “No! No!” but to no avail.

Elba, who so excelled at playing a drug lord on HBO’s “The Wire,” is again a smooth criminal who manages to play it straight despite the overabundance of movie clichés. But should the audience be giggling?

*

—Susanne Perez

An easy ‘Life’

“Life of Crime” is the better movie, only because it’s based on a story by the late great Elmore Leonard. It has a solid cast and also stars Jennifer Aniston.

In 1978 Detroit, Ordell and Louis (Mos Def and John Hawkes) plot to kidnap the wife of a wealthy businessman (Tim Robbins).

These crooks actually seem to be decent guys, and they quickly assure Mickey (Aniston) they won’t hurt her. They even protect her from their accomplice, a Nazi memorabilia collector and all-around nut job.

Several scenes remind me of “Fargo” in their offbeat humor, and this is definitely a quirky little film with some nice surprises. Aniston even changed her hairstyle for the first half of the movie.

—Susanne Perez

JOHN DEPKO is a retired senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office. He lives in Costa Mesa and works as a licensed private investigator. SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a company in Irvine.