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Locke - review
May. 7th, 2014 07:59 amA man gets in his car and drives down the M6. Along the way he makes and answers several phone calls.
Doesn't sound like the most thrilling premise for a film, does it? Locke, however, is one of the best films I've seen in a long while. It's tense, enthralling, well-plotted and had me gripped from start to finish. 85 minutes flew by faster than the motorway miles.
Tom Hardy stars as the titular Ivan Locke, and his is the only face we see on screen. Before the film starts, he receives a fateful call which prompts him to get in his car, a decision which will change his life. Hardy gives a brilliant performance of a man struggling to hold things together as his job and his family life gradually fall apart. He is haunted by past events, but is also a very practical person whose optimism that things will turn out okay prevents the film slipping into depression. Occasional bursts of humour at the absurdity of it all also lighten the mood.
This isn't the British Phone Booth. It's not action-orientated. It's a lot more personal than that. Over the course of the journey, Locke struggles to fix the messes he has created. But there is a limit to what he can do from behind the wheel. The problems spiral out of his control and the phone calls mount up thick and fast, giving Locke little breathing time. The isolation and powerlessness of being stuck in a car at night, when there are at least three other places you need to be and people you need to be with, are closely felt. You really empathise with Locke, despite his mistakes. He is trying hard to do the right thing, and you can't help but will him on throughout the long car journey you spend with him.
Very highly recommended. If you catch it on telly in a few months time, turn the lights out for atmosphere.
Doesn't sound like the most thrilling premise for a film, does it? Locke, however, is one of the best films I've seen in a long while. It's tense, enthralling, well-plotted and had me gripped from start to finish. 85 minutes flew by faster than the motorway miles.
Tom Hardy stars as the titular Ivan Locke, and his is the only face we see on screen. Before the film starts, he receives a fateful call which prompts him to get in his car, a decision which will change his life. Hardy gives a brilliant performance of a man struggling to hold things together as his job and his family life gradually fall apart. He is haunted by past events, but is also a very practical person whose optimism that things will turn out okay prevents the film slipping into depression. Occasional bursts of humour at the absurdity of it all also lighten the mood.
This isn't the British Phone Booth. It's not action-orientated. It's a lot more personal than that. Over the course of the journey, Locke struggles to fix the messes he has created. But there is a limit to what he can do from behind the wheel. The problems spiral out of his control and the phone calls mount up thick and fast, giving Locke little breathing time. The isolation and powerlessness of being stuck in a car at night, when there are at least three other places you need to be and people you need to be with, are closely felt. You really empathise with Locke, despite his mistakes. He is trying hard to do the right thing, and you can't help but will him on throughout the long car journey you spend with him.
Very highly recommended. If you catch it on telly in a few months time, turn the lights out for atmosphere.
