Few actors do Brandoesque brooding as well as Tom Hardy, an imposing screen presence with an enviable ability to convey great conflict through silence. And there’s an awful lot of brooding in this atmospheric adaptation of screenwriter Dennis Lehane’s short story “Animal Rescue” from Bullhead director Michaël R Roskam. Hardy plays Bob Saginowski, bartender at cousin Marv’s Brooklyn dive, a local establishment now owned by Chechen gangsters who use it for occasional money-laundering drops. Bob keeps his head down until the discovery of a battered dog in a dustbin causes him to open his heart both to the mutt and to his charismatic neighbour Nadia (Noomi Rapace), whose psycho-ex is lurking in the shadows. For all its ponderous tone and pedigree, this remains lightweight stuff, rehashing familiar neo-noir riffs while over-exercising its central “dog’s life” metaphor. Still, the ensemble performances are solid, not least James Gandolfini, in a winningly gruff last-hurrah as Marv.
