Locke

I went to see the movie because the review of the movie said that it would change what you thought about film making. This would be true if you've never seen a movie before, but that is not the case.

Not to say that the movie is not good. It acts as a sort of one man play starring Tom Hardy as Ivan Locke, a man who made a mistake in his past that threatens to unwrap his perfect life when he tries to do the right thing. The movie totally relies on the actor playing the role and Tom steps up to the challenge nicely.

But I've seen this kind of one man play with Buried starring Ryan Reynolds and Brake starring Stephen Dorff. I can even mention other movies like 127hours or Phone booth that have a similar concept.

What makes Locke different is that the pressure of life and death is not there. In those movies the leading (and only) men were threaten with the proposal of death, While in this movie, Ivan Locke's way of Life is threaten with change, and it's this change in the concept that made the movie Quiet and low key, but the filmmakers were still able to make if fast pasted and kinetic (having it take place in a Car going down the highway helps).

The movie had the same pressure of a ticking clock about to explode and the lead character attempting to talk himself out of the situation, but the filmmaker does not force the tension or thrills on you. Ivan Locke's situation is very down to earth and every day to day. Watching him attempt to deal with this situation could have come off boring after a half hour if not for Tom Hardy showing his mental acting chops (versus how physically intimidating he seemed as Bane in Dark Knight Rises, he's a small man in real life).

Though the movie was good to watch I could have gotten the same effect streaming it at home on Netflix. Recommend you do the same.

This film tells the journey of a construction manager who drives in his car from Birmingham to London, because of a responsible but destructive decision he has made. Over the course of the drive, he talks on the phone to various parties, hoping to make things right.

"Locke" is an interesting film because it has only one actor appearing on the screen. The number of calls Ivan gets is quite astonishing, at times even make my eyes roll. Yet, the calls change in emotion as time goes on, especially the wife's call, which is realistic and engaging. The last phone call by the son is also very emotional. I enjoyed watching this interesting and challenging film, both to make and to watch.

I can only say we have to appreciate such work of arts since in the modern era of over-exploitation money took over all the popularity of the cinema. It is very obvious that the movie depends on a very limited budget, which I like the most when it comes to cinema, because it is not just for entertainment, or it is not all about marketing and sales. Apart from the story, the movie conveys a message that stimulating people's minds and imaginations does not necessarily require cutting- edge visual effects or a science-fiction rooted story. There are many ways to do that, and when you see the movie I assure you you will ask yourself "How on earth did they manage to craft such an extraordinary movie with such a straightforward story?".This movie has a pure and creative story flow which keeps you follow with all the focus. It makes you imagine, stimulates your curiosity and plays with your nerves. Better watch it yourself!

...Locke provides irrefutable proof that he is. Tom Hardy is absolutely captivating in this role, and he has to be. It's all about his character Ivan Locke driving in a car. That's the setting. All forms of dialogue are from Locke and from calls he gets ingoing and outgoing through the car. The weird thing is, you don't even notice it after a while. Everything flows so smoothly and Tom Hardy's performance completely captures everything you'd expect from this character as he's experiencing these dilemmas - you believe every word out of his mouth and every subtle nuance in his expressions. Tom Hardy owns this movie and Locke really is the perfect vehicle (literally) for showing off his barebones acting chops.

The story itself is that Ivan Locke is a construction worker who just got off his shift and is now driving back, but then gets some calls that give us insight into what he has going on in his personal life and his work life and how Locke responds to this information as it gets progressively more stressful. It's incredible that a movie at only 82 minutes can go through such a roller-coaster of emotions, and as short as it is the movie still flies by because you're so drawn to the character. One of the voices is Locke's coworker voiced by Andrew Scott (Moriarty from Sherlock) and even as a voice-over his performance is totally convincing and his back-and-forth with Hardy is electric and at times humorous. His wife and other parties bring drama into the equation and as things start falling apart for Locke it dips into psychological thriller territory.

Steven Knight deserves much credit as well for having written and directed the film. It's so smooth and sleek, from the highway shots to the few overhead shots of the city at night. It's beautiful and adds the ideal atmosphere for this one-man show to maneuver in. It's a wonderfully written movie, wonderfully directed, perfectly acted (seriously, this is the performance of Hardy's career), with a spot- on supporting cast of voices. Locke is a mesmerizing movie from beginning to end. If you're a Tom Hardy fan or a fan of good cinema in general, you're doing yourself a disservice by not watching Locke.

Apart from about 20 seconds at the start, the entire film is shot in the confined space of a BMW drivers seat. There is only one physical actor & about 4 different camera shots. Tom Hardy plays Ivan Locke, he lives a successful life in Construction & is a dedicated family man. He is calm and collected and gives the impression that he is a man all about control. In the time it takes him to drive from Birmingham to London, his whole life changes, and you get to see how and why through various telephone calls on Bluetooth loudspeaker.

Tom Hardy gives a very convincing performance and shows everybody that he is not a one trick pony and he can adapt well to different roles and scenarios. With Tom Hardy being the only star of this movie he really needed to bring a powerful performance that the audience can connect to, and he did this successfully in my opinion. The director stated that he wanted to make something completely different and fresh for mainstream cinema, there are other films out similar to this but the ones I have seen don't match up to Locke. This does feel unique and I can appreciate how making a film of this style must be challenging to make it entertaining and keep its viewers hooked. The run time is about right and at just over 80 minutes it's relatively short but I think this helps.

This movie is slow paced, its one man talking on the phone for 80 minutes, so if this doesn't sound like something for you then avoid! I personally found it tense and gripping. The film didn't head in the direction I thought it would but this isn't a bad thing. It has its own unique feel and this is always something I welcome in a world of cinema that is so saturated with clichés and over told stories!

When the credits rolled it did leave me thinking about the movie and had me thinking it over in my head. It actually made me feel quite emotional, this is all down to Tom Hardy and his performance. It is hard to say anything else about this movie without giving key plot points away!

7/10