Locke

Director: Steven Knight
Screenplay: Steven Knight
Starring: Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson
Producer: Guy Heeley, Paul Webster
Country: UK
Running Time: 85 min
Year: 2014
BBFC Certificate: 15

Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy) is a supposed everyman, works hard and has a wife and family. On the eve of a major career accomplishment he makes a decision that will pretty much explode his whole happy set up.

Tom Hardy is so watchable, even when giving us a wondering welsh accent (chosen for it soothing qualities), that pretty much anything could have been happening around him. As it is he has to hold our attention for 85 minutes – just say in his car talking to various people, sometimes himself. There is a mystery at first as to what is going on but this gets dispelled 15 minutes in, which is a pity as in terms of thriller status I could have done with more tension before I knew what was actually going on.

It’s a brave and interesting set up for a film; if it were not for Tom Hardy it wouldn’t work and indeed he was the only choice for writer/director Steven Knight to play the part. The film was made over a week with all the other characters phoning in their performances live; this immediacy enhances Hardy’s performance and it is a moving kitchen sink drama unfolding before us.

It’s worth a watch for the performances and the hypnotic imagery alone.