2) The Drop
It’s the stillness of Hardy in The Drop that makes his performance as bartender and ex-crook Bob Saginowski so special. On the page, Saginowski reads like a character Hardy has carried over from the likes of Warrior, Legend, and Lawless: a sensitive hard man raised on the mean streets. Except, Hardy doesn’t play it like that at all. Instead, he makes Saginowski one of his more likeable, relatable characters (up to the third act twist, anyway).
Played without a hint of the intensity Hardy’s become famous for, Bob is just a simple, unassuming guy who lacks the smarts or the ambition to leave his old Brooklyn neighborhood. There’s no trace of threat in him – he’s just a man with a troubled past who wants to live a quiet life. Here, the Brando comparison is fully warranted: Bob Saginowski is Hardy’s Terry Malloy.