Review of Locke (2014) by Dan K — 04 Nov 2014

"Tom Hardy gives a great performance in a story richly told, in a car.".

DVD Movie Review: Locke.

Date Viewed: August 31 2014.

Written and Directed By Steven Knight (Redemption).

Starring: Tom Hardy.

"Locke" is both riveting and powerful. It is one of the best movies of the year. This movie is all told inside a car. It's just about a guy driving his car and having conversations with people on a hands-free mobile device. For a movie set entirely inside a car, "Locke" is a brilliant cautionary tale. Tom Hardy gives a great performance in a movie that's just about a guy driving his car. It is masterfully written and it is a well-constructed experiment.

Tom Hardy plays Ivan Locke, a construction worker who must supervise a large concrete pour in Birmingham. As I said, this movie is set entirely in a car so we watch him drive throughout the movie but he also receives a lot of phone calls. He receives his calls on a hands-free mobile device. Locke gets phone calls from his boss, his wife and his two sons but Locke gets a phone call that will change everything.

He gets a message from Bethan, a co-worker who Locke had a one-night stand with seven months earlier. She's pregnant with his child and has gone into premature labor. Even though his family is waiting for him to get back home, Locke decides to go to London to be with Bethan at the hospital.

That one decision could not only cost him his job but also his marriage. "Locke" is a terrific one-man show and it is all thanks to Tom Hardy's brave performance. Writer-Director Steven Knight (Eastern Promises and Closed Circuit) has made an extraordinary thrill ride, even though it is not a thriller. It's a tight story about how one decision can destroy somebody's life in an instant. "Locke" is a compelling character study that works like clockwork.