It will be James Gandolfini who will probably get most of the press on The Drop, as it was his last performance. But Tom Hardy is why you should see this film. Not many would call Hardy the best actor alive, but they should. His Bane was the most memorable thing about The Dark Knight Rises, and in Locke, Hardy makes a two-hour car ride to London mesmerizing. In The Drop, which screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, he once again disappears into his character, this time as Bob, the soft-spoken Brooklyn bartender who bonds with his neighbour (Noomi Rapace) after finding a pitbull puppy in a garbage can. The script, penned by Mystic River's Dennis Lehane, won top prize at the San Sebastien Film Festival for its story of low-level gangsters and a robbery gone wrong, but it's Hardy you will remember. *Craig Courtice
• Monday, October 27, 9.15pm, Vox 5; Saturday, November 1, 5pm, Emirates Palace
