Locke [Film Review]

Tom Hardy has been one of my favorite actors since Inception. Time and time again he's given fantastic performances, his most unique of which was given in Bronson. He was the primary reason I wanted to watch this film.

Locke takes a bit of time to get used to. It takes place nearly 100% inside of a car, as Ivan Locke, played by the aforementioned brilliant Hardy, tries to deal with some extremely heavy situations from the driver's seat of his car. Over the duration of an hour and a half car ride, Locke's life begins to collapse slowly around him.

Locke believes that he can fix everything in his life. He does an incredible job of adapting to new situations as they quickly arise around him, but over the course of the drive you can see them taking an emotional toll on him, as he curses his late father. But through it all he strongly takes the driver's seat, literally and figuratively, on the predicaments in his life.

There are some small obnoxious things throughout the film. The phone conversations are often rather repetitive, and we often are subject to, again, repetitive transitions. The music is pretty much the same throughout. But as the film progresses, it pulls you in and you begin to empathize with Locke's complicated situation. It all becomes rather emotional. Tom Hardy holds the audience's attention splendidly through it all as well.

Locke is far from flawless. But if you're willing to sit through the ride, it makes for a rather beautifully tragic story.