Tom Hardy has stood out in a variety of different genres, but he seems to return to crime movies more often than others. Hardy has a reputation as a performer who isn’t afraid of taking big swings, whether it be with an odd accent choice or a splashy persona that draws attention to itself. This means that he is often a great choice to play a villain, a gangster, or some other kind of criminal.
Tom Hardy’s best movies include actioners like Mad Max: Fury Road and prestige dramas like The Revenant, but one of his major career trends has been his love for the crime genre. Some of the movies which first made him famous were crime movies, and he has repeatedly returned to the genre, always playing criminals rather than lawmen. Hardy possesses an unpredictable quality that makes him a great on-screen bad guy.
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10 Capone (2020)
Hardy plays Al Capone
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Capone 
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Director Josh Trank Release Date May 12, 2020 Cast Jack Lowden , Al Sapienza , Tilda Del Toro , Kyle MacLachlan , Kathrine Narducci , Mason Guccione , Noel Fisher , Linda Cardellini , Wayne Pére , Gino Cafarelli , Tom Hardy , Matt Dillon
Tom Hardy’s Al Capone couldn’t quite capitalize on its potential. Capone looks at America’s most infamous mobster later in life, in an attempt to provide a slightly different portrait than those which Hollywood has previously offered. Unlike Robert De Niro’s charming but brutal thug in The Untouchables, Hardy’s Capone is an older man battling severe health problems and struggling with his memory.
Hardy is still entertaining as always, swaggering about with an interesting mix of volatility and vulnerability.
Capone often shows a more sympathetic side to the gangster, but it also shows the flickers of violence behind his eyes. A series of flashbacks show the horrific brutality that made Capone who he is. Unfortunately, Capone doesn’t quite dig deep enough for a crime biopic, and the script’s so-so dialogue also holds it back. Hardy is still entertaining as always, swaggering about with an interesting mix of volatility and vulnerability.
9 Legend (2015)
Hardy plays Ronnie & Reggie Kray
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Director Brian Helgeland Release Date November 20, 2015 Cast Tom Hardy , Emily Browning , Christopher Eccleston , David Thewlis , Taron Egerton , Chazz Palminteri , Colin Morgan , Paul Bettany
Tom Hardy works a double shift in Legend, playing both of London’s notorious Kray twins. The Krays were two gangsters who became well-known celebrities, appearing in magazines and on TV. Legend takes a look at their lives through a comedic lens, and Hardy is perfect for the job. He does a lot of good work to distinguish between Ronnie and Reggie, essentially creating a comedic double act with himself.
Hardy does a lot of good work to distinguish between Ronnie and Reggie, essentially creating a comedic double act with himself.
Legend, as the title suggests, is just as interested in the legacy of the Kray twins as their lives. There are plenty of funny scenes which highlight the absurd duality of their celebrity status. They rubbed shoulders with London’s rich and famous, but away from their famous nightclub they would commit arson, armed robbery, extortion and murder. Legend is a must-watch for fans of Hardy, but it also has a lot to say about the way the media works.
8 Lawless (2012)
Hardy plays Forrest Bondurant
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Director John Hillcoat Release Date August 29, 2012 Cast Tom Hardy , Shia LaBeouf , Gary Oldman
Tom Hardy features as part of a great cast in Lawless. He plays the middle brother in a family of bootleggers operating in Virginia. While the eldest brother is prone to bursts of blinding violence, and the youngest brother is more anxious and uppity, Forrest Bondurant remains calm throughout. He often sits with a stone-faced expression while watching his brothers do his bidding for him.
Tom Hardy features as part of a great cast in
Lawless.
Hardy’s performance helps sell the idea of Forrest’s invincibility. He leads the brothers to believe that he is their impervious leader, and Hardy’s deadpan quips and emotional control are vital to this. Even while being shot at or gripped in a headlock by federal agents, he maintains his composure. Gary Oldman, Shia LaBeouf and Jessica Chastain all have memorable roles, making Lawless a captivating period crime drama.
7 Bronson (2008)
Hardy plays Michael Peterson/ Charles Bronson
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Bronson gives Tom Hardy a big personality to play with, and he seems to enjoy himself as the flamboyant Charles Bronson. Born Michael Peterson, Charles Bronson is a real criminal who has been described as Britain’s most violent prisoner. He has spent years in the country’s most famous prisons and mental hospitals. Bronson tells the tale of his life inside, as well as providing some backstory.
Bronson is a unique criminal, and the movie about his life treats him as such.
Bronson is an unusual character study, in that it doesn’t attempt to answer some of the most important questions about its subject. Bronson doesn’t try to figure out if some people are born with more pronounced violent tendencies, or if these impulses can be exacerbated by the prison system. Instead, it does a lot of interesting work in the murky gray area. Bronson is a unique criminal, and the movie about his life treats him as such. Through it all, Hardy is a joy to watch.
6 RocknRolla (2008)
Hardy plays Handsome Bob
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Director Guy Ritchie Release Date September 5, 2008 Cast Gerard Butler , Tom Wilkinson , Idris Elba , Thandiwe Newton , Mark Strong , Tom Hardy , Karel Roden , Toby Kebbell
Tom Hardy has only worked with Guy Ritchie on one occasion, which is a surprise considering that he is such a good fit for the director’s style. He’s a British actor with a comedic touch and an impressive range, and RocknRolla shows just a brief glimpse of how he can easily adapt to Ritchie’s idiosyncratic dialogue. He plays Handsome Bob, a gay gangster with feelings for his own boss.
RocknRolla
isn’t up there with Guy Ritchie’s best movies, but it has many of the essential pieces in place.
RocknRolla isn’t up there with Guy Ritchie’s best movies, and it doesn’t quite capture the same sense of comedic chaos as Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Ritchie’s genre-defining British mob movies. However, it has many of the essential pieces in place, such as a fantastic cast of charming rogues, and a tangled plot that adds another layer to the movie’s wicked humor.
5 The Drop (2014)
Hardy plays Bob
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The Drop (2014) 3.5 1
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Director Michaël R. Roska Release Date September 12, 2014 Cast Tom Hardy , Noomi Rapace , James Gandolfini , Matthias Schoenaerts , John Ortiz , Elizabeth Rodriguez , Michael Aronov , Morgan Spector
James Gandolfini played the most famous gangster in TV history, and he teams up with Tom Hardy in The Drop for a compelling crime drama about two cousins who hide money for the mafia. The Drop was Gandolfini’s last movie role before his untimely death, and his powerful on-screen presence is at its peak. Hardy is not one to be outdone, however, and he proves that he can be just as impressive.
The Drop
is something of a hidden gem, but it’s well worth watching for the two lead performances and the twisty plot.
The Drop is something of a hidden gem, but it’s well worth watching for the two lead performances and the twisty plot. As the cousins find themselves wading deeper into trouble, their allegiances and their assumptions are both put to the test. The Drop presents a bleak portrait of New York City’s criminal underbelly, both in the script and in the cinematography, which cannily shows the shifting relationship between the two cousins.
4 The Bikeriders (2024)
Hardy plays Johnny
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The Bikeriders 3.0 10
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Director Jeff Nichols Release Date June 21, 2024 Cast Jodie Comer , Austin Butler , Tom Hardy , Michael Shannon , Mike Faist , Norman Reedus
The Bikeriders was a box office disappointment, but it’s still a classy period crime drama with an effective cast. Tom Hardy stars alongside Austin Butler and Jodie Comer, as he plays the leader of a motorcycle gang in Chicago in the 1960s. The Bikeriders mixes fact with fiction in some interesting ways. It’s based on a photo-book by Danny Lyons, but the movie warps and creates different elements to make an original narrative.
The Bikeriders
is an interesting crime drama that shows a deeply human side to some remarkable violence.
The Bikeriders has drawn comparisons to Goodfellas since its release, as there are some similarities in the narratives of the two movies, and director Jeff Nichols uses freeze frames, voiceovers and music in similar ways to Martin Scorsese. Whether these similarities are incidental or not, The Bikeriders is another interesting crime drama that shows a deeply human side to some remarkable violence. Hardy is in top form as the stoic, power-hungry gang leader.
3 Layer Cake (2004)
Hardy plays Clarkie
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Director Matthew Vaughn Release Date June 3, 2005 Cast Daniel Craig Sienna Miller , Michael Gambon , Tom Hardy , Jamie Foreman , Sally Hawkins , Burn Gorman , Brinley Green
Layer Cake is still one of Matthew Vaughn’s best movies, although it was his directorial debut. His latest movies, such as Argylle and The King’s Man, have shown his progression into more indulgent stylistic action. Layer Cake keeps things relatively simple, but it still has plenty of unique flavor to it. Daniel Craig stars as a cocaine distributor with a stringent moral code, delivering one of his best pre-Bond performances.
Layer Cake
is an absorbing crime drama with a sly sense of humor.
Tom Hardy plays a young criminal in Layer Cake with big aspirations. He does well in his role, but he’s playing second fiddle to Craig. Vaughn keeps up a brisk pace throughout Layer Cake, moved along by Craig’s charming voiceover and a few splashes of action. Overall, Layer Cake is an absorbing crime drama with a sly sense of humor, and its bold ending ensures that it lives long in the memory.
2 The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Hardy plays Bane
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The Dark Knight Rises 4.0 17
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Director Christopher Nolan Release Date July 16, 2012 Cast Christian Bale , Tom Hardy , Anne Hathaway , Gary Oldman , Joseph Gordon-Levitt , Marion Cotillard , Morgan Freeman , Michael Caine
Not many superhero movies can also count as crime movies, but Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is an exception. Nolan revitalized the superhero genre by incorporating elements of crime films, such as the corruption in Gotham and a more grounded approach to action. Tom Hardy’s Bane is a peculiar hybrid of comic book influences and gritty crime drama archetypes. This tension makes him especially unsettling, as he has an eccentric streak which counters Bruce Wayne’s dark image.
Tom Hardy’s Bane is a peculiar hybrid of comic book influences and gritty crime drama archetypes.
Following Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight was always going to be a tough task, but Hardy does a lot to ensure that direct comparisons are frivolous. His Bane is a unique creation, and this is underlined by his controversial voice as the villain. The Dark Knight Rises is often considered a step down when compared to the movie that preceded it, but it’s still more thoughtful and visually interesting than most other superhero movies.
1 Inception (2010)
Hardy plays Eames
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Inception 5.0 4
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Director Christopher Nolan Release Date July 16, 2010 Cast Tom Hardy , Elliot Page , Joseph Gordon-Levitt , Cillian Murphy , Ken Watanabe , Marion Cotillard , Leonardo DiCaprio
Inception may be the quintessential Christopher Nolan movie. It features a high-concept plot, some unique ideas, and cinematic action that few other directors would ever dream of. It’s a crime drama among many other things, although it’s chiefly categorized as a sci-fi action thriller. The idea of “dream sharing” is a sci-fi concept that allows Nolan to weave a tale of theft and espionage.
The idea of “dream sharing” is a sci-fi concept that allows Nolan to weave a tale of theft and espionage.
Tom Hardy plays one of Cobb’s associates who specializes in forgery and identity theft. This adds another layer of complexity to Inception‘s trippy, cerebral mind games. Inception toys with its audience from the start, introducing the question of what is real and what is merely imagined very early on. Inception‘s ambiguous ending keeps this mystery alive, putting the cherry on top of a unique crime film that showcases the best of Nolan’s talents as a writer and director.