Locke

JP Liz V1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdaofZfgV_Q

Looks to be getting released here on the 18th of April


Steven Knight and Tom Hardy teaming up should be good

Otacon

I really like the premise and think Hardy is a superb presence. Hopefully it will still be in cinemas here when I get back from holiday.

Looper007

A full 90 minutes of Tom Hardy at his best and the only actor on screen, then I'm all in. Saw the Trailer for this at the weekend and it looks intense art house cinema at it's best and it's been getting great reviews. Some cast too in basically cameo roles like Andrew Scott, Tom Holland and Olivia Coleman and the writer Steven Knight of the brilliant Eastern Promises and the underrated Dirty Pretty Things plus the great TV show Peaky Blinders and his directional debut. I can't see this getting to long of a cinema run though.

Rubber_Soul

Went to see this earlier and I'd really recommend it. Go see in it in the cinema if you can as I reckon it may lose some of its intimacy on a tv screen. I didn't really know what to expect going in as the trailer and a few reviews I came across described it as a thriller which is woefully inaccurate. It's a really gripping drama and while some of the dialogue can be a bit clunky it's held together by a brilliant performance by Hardy.

johnny_ultimate

A very pleasant surprise. The trailer had led me to expect a tense thriller. It's tense alright, but thriller is pushing it. Instead, it's a tightly wound character study. The stakes are high for Locke, but they're relatively grounded concerns (albeit with some dramatic indulgences). It's just one man, trying desperately to keep his cool and maintain his fundamental decency as several turds fly in the direction of the fan at once.

Their faces don't appear on screen, but the supporting cast do a fine job with only voices. Andrew Scott's increasingly stressed performance adds a welcome layer of comic relief to what is a fairly emotionally loaded tale. But obviously it's Hardy's film. It's a captivating performance, both introverted and extroverted. He handles the various dramatic junctures and conversations well, but the most impressive displays come when he's simply seen trying to keep it together - a split second of despair here, a glimpse at the edge of madness there. It's a nuanced and convincing piece of acting, and Hardy is well able to hold together a film that consists primarily of himself in close up.

It is a close up film, and as you might expect there's not a whole lot of visual variety to a film set entirely in a car driving down a drab stretch of motorway (a handful of nice shots here and there). There's a slightly misjudged 'subplot' concerning Locke's dead father that didn't work for me. And the ending feels a tad awkward in terms of delivery, even though it does end on generally satisfying beats. But this is a no-nonsense, thoroughly watchable drama with a very strong central performance.

Looper007

Worth it alone for Tom Hardy's brilliant performance alone, the time flew by and I was gripped by what a amazing screen presence and acting talent he is. For a film that's 1 hour and 25 minutes set in one location that takes some doing.

Andrew Scott was funny as hell as the eejit foreman and Oliva coleman as

The one night stand who is having his baby the reason for all the trouble

is turning into one of Britain's best actresses. The scene with his Son on the phone talking about football but with more hidden behind the message, I love holds deeper meaning

He's as bad a father as his own father, even though he probably is around but as his wife says he cares more for his work and it wasn't the first time he called something with his son's, the cycle of bad and neglected father continues

. I thought the ending was a little abrupt but that's nit picking. Well made drama with a towering performance, good to see at my screening it had a good crowd.

grames_bond

Saw this today and absolutely loved it. Harry's performance is nothing short of spectacular! I will agree the ending was a bit abrupt but I think that stands to how good a movie it is, after 90 minutes of just Tom Hardy in a car - I wanted more!

Great job with the "welsh man with a cold" accent too!

Looper007

grames_bond wrote: »

Saw this today and absolutely loved it. Harry's performance is nothing short of spectacular! I will agree the ending was a bit abrupt but I think that stands to how good a movie it is, after 90 minutes of just Tom Hardy in a car - I wanted more!

Great job with the "welsh man with a cold" accent too!

Didn't time fly by, it didn't feel like more then 45 minutes. That's what shocked me that it totally grips you in from the first minute Hardy speaks.

nyarlothothep

I enjoyed it though the ending was a dissapointment. I think a better ending would have been if

1. there is definate proof that the building project succeeds with flying colours and Donal gets a promotion while Locke is given his old job back 2. Locke's wife forgives him and he's reunited with his family 3. Locke is shown to be there for the birth of his new child who is adopted into the family with the mother reinventing herself on a journey of self discovery in India Or 1 (a) Locke going crazy and driving the car off a cliff Or 1 (b) Locke going crazy and getting involved in a high speed police chase with him driving off the cliff or alternatively driving into the hospital, with the car exploding in both cases. I think these would have made for more satisfactory endings.

Fysh

I thought it was really good, but the trailers I've seen for it are doing it a disservice, selling it as something quite different to what it is. I already had the film on my radar after looking through last year's BFI film festival lineup, but I can imagine a few people being annoyed that a film sold as being a tense thriller of some kind is in fact a character study presented in a format that's almost like a stage play.

Looper007

Fysh wrote: »

I thought it was really good, but the trailers I've seen for it are doing it a disservice, selling it as something quite different to what it is. I already had the film on my radar after looking through last year's BFI film festival lineup, but I can imagine a few people being annoyed that a film sold as being a tense thriller of some kind is in fact a character study presented in a format that's almost like a stage play.

I agree, the same could be said for the trailer for the Double (sold it as a out and out comedy rather then a comedy drama), I was expecting a serious drama rather then a thriller as I was reading reports about it. But I know many people would be disappointed that it wasn't about murder or some sort of nail biting climax. But again the film is one of the best of 2014 for me with a classic performance from Tom Hardy, so not many can be disappointed with the film they got.

Fysh

Looper007 wrote: »

I agree, the same could be said for the trailer for the Double (sold it as a out and out comedy rather then a comedy drama), I was expecting a serious drama rather then a thriller as I was reading reports about it. But I know many people would be disappointed that it wasn't about murder or some sort of nail biting climax. But again the film is one of the best of 2014 for me with a classic performance from Tom Hardy, so not many can be disappointed with the film they got.

Oh yeah, I'm much happier to have seen the film it was than the film they were advertising. I heard a few grumbles on the way out of the screening I went to, though, and I suspect that the advertising was to blame there.

I don't think there are many actors out there who are equally comfortable (and competent) with a top billing in a blockbuster as with a core role in an intimate character drama like this. At this point, Tom Hardy's on a rarefied list of actors whose presence in the film is enough for me to take a gamble on it.

Duggy747

I really liked it, Hardy effortlessly carried this movie off and I loved painting the world in my head that these callers inhabited. It was quite a hypnotic watch, too.

The GF didn't like it one bit and was sold on a different movie the trailer was showing, implying a much more sinister and suspenseful thriller rather than a tense character drama. I don't blame her, the trailer was put in a way that you'd imagine Hardy had done something truly horrible and gotten himself into a far worse situation than he did in the film.

Unfortunately, I can imagine some people hating this movie or being overly harsh on it because it wasn't the film in the trailer.

Looper007

Fysh wrote: »

Oh yeah, I'm much happier to have seen the film it was than the film they were advertising. I heard a few grumbles on the way out of the screening I went to, though, and I suspect that the advertising was to blame there.

I don't think there are many actors out there who are equally comfortable (and competent) with a top billing in a blockbuster as with a core role in an intimate character drama like this. At this point, Tom Hardy's on a rarefied list of actors whose presence in the film is enough for me to take a gamble on it.

I can see why many would have a grumble that the trailer sold them on something more intense, but if you read the monthly film magazines and such I don't think what the finished article you seen on screen differed from what the actor and director/writer were talking the film up as. I think the studio, Liongate, are to blame probably thinking many people wouldn't go to a film where

nothing major happens like a murder or Hardy going all Michael Douglas in Falling down

I can see why they did it, don't agree as I think the film is one of the best of the year with a great performance from Hardy and would grip any film viewer.

Looper007

Duggy747 wrote: »

Unfortunately, I can imagine some people hating this movie or being overly harsh on it because it wasn't the film in the trailer.

I saw one or two people walk out of it halfway through it, it's their loss really. My girlfriend was the opposite she was expecting a same old thriller with the guy going crazy but got a very good human drama and really loved it. I will stick up for it if anyone comes on and gives It a slating cause it's the studio's fault for promoting it like a thriller rather then the director and actors.

sadie06

This was utterly compelling cinema, and all the more so because we knew absolutely nothing about it before going in. Tom Hardy gives an outstanding performance.

I really thought the ending was perfect, and had been hinted at in Locke's monologue about the pour, when he told Donal

that the tiniest mistake would cause a crack, which would lead to multiple cracks and bring this perfect construction crashing down in the future.

I pretty much knew it couldn't go any other way then, but loved the way his character confronted the situation he found himself in as he would a work issue, constantly looking for 'the next logical step',

before it started to dawn on him that while the experienced foreman in him could bring the pour back under his control, his role as a family man was slipping from his grasp, perhaps forever. It was heartbreaking.

I highly recommend this movie, but if, for instance, you hated Lost in Translation, you will probably hate this too. I thought it would work fantastically well as a radio play, and it would make for interesting listening if you were driving yourself at the time.

Warper

This is a decent film though i agree the trailer makes it look like Phonebooth. Nothing much happens in this film, it is just a pretty basic drama. That said it is well made and the film is just the right time for a film just looking at a guy in a car. Nice idea but it is pretty mundane.

e_e

Intriguing, suspenseful and moving film. Damn good and I love the economy of storytelling it shows too.

Also somebody on YouTube needs to loop Hardy saying

"I'm the father."

for an hour.

SteelyDanJalapeno

The traffic is okay

I saw this recently and found it powerful even outside the cinema. A great performance indeed and the running time is judged to a tee. Highly recommended. Watch it with just the tv as light.

OldRio

Brilliant storytelling with the minimum of fuss. Hardy was superb.




How did we manage without mobile phones ?

krudler

Finally got round to watching this and thought it was mostly excellent, some aspects fell a bit flat and I thought the ending was a bit rushed but Hardy's performance is absolutely mesmerising.

TheDoc

Watched this last night and utterly loved it. The trailers definitely made me think it would be something different, even the synopsis online made it sound like something totally different.

Was a really good watch. The ending definitely felt abrupt and left me with a lot of wonderings, but overall really enjoyed it.

Very much made me want a BMW immediately as well.

Skerries

I liked these factoids about the film

Ivan Locke's cold was written into the script because actor Tom Hardy had a cold during production.

The BMW used in the film is installed with a "low fuel warning" alert and would make a noise whenever the car was running out of petrol. The noise disrupted Tom Hardy's performance during takes, but director Steven Knight kept the actor's frustrated reactions in the movie and substituted the car's noise with "you have a call waiting" instead.

charlie_says

Ah that was an unexpected cracker of a movie.

Gotta love Tom Hardy, his Welsh accent was brilliant. Will be recommending this to friends and family. Great drama.

It also reminded me of how much I hate driving and how stressful it is.

Lyaiera

I just watched this tonight. It's an amazing but not perfect film.

To those saying it felt like a really quick movie because you were drawn in, I'm a sort of opposite to that. To me it felt like it went on for three hours, not 90 minutes. And in a good way. It was like time slowed down, as I imagine it would have for Locke. This hellish nightmare that won't seem to end. And this is kind of reflected in the moments where there was no one on the phone and I was loving the peace he finally had.

Similar to that I thought there were loads of points where it could have ended. There were times when I thought, "It's over/It's over for him." But it went on as there was more to do. And much like Drive being a film about a man driving and a driven man, so too is Locke.

I agree with Looper

in that he is a failed father in someway just like his own.

And that makes it all the more human a film, the cycle of **** continues. In some ways it's a description of the different ideas of what a man can be. And it also shows that sometimes people think they're doing the right thing, even though they aren't necessarily.

All in all, it's a fantastic film that shows the depth of thoughts, feelings, consequences, etc. behind something so every day.

pixelburp

With its single, tightly focused location, it seems a bit inappropriate to call Locke a film in the most cinematic sense, it was really more of a one-act stage play than anything else. The director did his best to keep the shots mixed up and interesting, but it still boiled down to 90 minutes of Tom Hardy talking to his hands-free; so it's a good job it was gripping throughout.

That said, the trailers did a good job making the plot seem 'bigger' than it was, full of drama and emotional cuts that made everything seem like a more conventional thriller than a powerful domestic one. The stakes were all relatively small all things considered, but it was made crystal clear throughout just how catastrophic Locke's actions were.

Needless to say a concept like this lives or dies by the standard of its lead performance, and Tom Hardy knocked it out of the park. His portrayal of Locke was of a somewhat deluded man, increasingly unravelling as he tried to desperately juggle the family and working life collapsing around him, all because of a stubborn decision to do 'the right thing', one that was a thinly veiled attempt to avoid being his own father. It was hard not to feel sorry for him really as he floundered around in the fallout of his decision, watching his somewhat pathetic attempts to apply the logic of a builders yard to his home life.

A gripping 90 minutes of phonecalls