Hardened criminal in Bronson, tough-guy Eames in Inception, strong and silent Bondurant in Lawless, and the indescribable Bane in Dark Knight Rises. It's fair to say Hardy's been typecast as... well, as the brick shithouse that he is. But then came Locke. Hardy's new role as the beige family man Ivan is at least a little off the beaten track, but how does he do with this new image?
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| Sultry suits you lad. [Is there anything that doesn't?] |
First things first, I went into this movie expecting an entirely different experience to what I got. The Ivan Locke we see in the trailers is much more Hardy-esque than the Locke we see in the film. In the ad, he's a man on a mission, and sinister music gives us that timeless cinematic sense of impending doom. But curtain up to the movie's real Ivan, and he's a run-of-the-mill construction worker trying to straighten out a glitch. Perhaps a miscommunication between the trailer-makers and the movie-makers? Or a tactical advertising strategy.
Luckily, the real movie isn't a disappointment in comparison to the ad. In fact, it's quite refreshing. There's an endless stream of fast paced action movies in cinemas all year round. Locke is in a league of its own. Much like Gravity, Locke is a single set film. Apart from a short scene at Ivan's construction site at the beginning, the entire film comprises of Hardy behind the wheel, with only voice roles from other actors [recorded from a hotel room]. Personally, Gravity was perhaps one of the most annoying films I've ever seen. It's like being locked in a room with someone else, they'll get annoying pretty quickly simply because it's just you and them. But Locke dodges this. And it's the writing of the character that lets us avoid it. While Bullock's character in Gravity was an utterly regular person, and therefore subject to making human errors, Hardy's character here is, as Total Film's Matt Glasby puts it, solid. He calculates every move he makes. He surveys every problem. Considers every risk. He makes no mistakes. There isn't any point in the film where you clench your fists and fight the urge to scream, "WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST -!!!" And that leaves you with an audience nodding their heads in agreement with Ivan's every decision.
Aside from writing a great character, Steven Knight's screenplay makes the film all-round very watchable. If you're not a Die Hardy Fan like me [see what I did there?], you might be sceptical of a film which comprises 85 minutes of Tom Hardy's face. Don't be. Knight has an incredible talent for having his audience on the edge of their seats even though the character doesn't leave his. In fact, I was shocked when it was over. I like to measure the quality of a film by the amount I check the time while it's running. Locke might be short, but I didn't even have the urge for a timecheck once in the 85 minutes. I could gladly have sat through a script twice the length. That said, nothing more was needed. The film doesn't have a cathartic end, but who needs one? Locke is short and sweet. Knight doesn't hide behind action or cinematics or any other frills - he cuts the crap and executes this drama perfectly. Bravo, Mr Knight.
It's not just Knight that deserves applause, though. The cast is excellent. Olivia Colman is fantastic as usual, and immediately identifiable despite being a floating voice. Andrew Scott [another of my personal favourites] is similarly noticeable, and equally wonderful as a voice actor.
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Rounding back to the question in hand, how does Hardy handle Ivan? In a word, calmly. There are a couple of psychotic outbursts from Hardy's character directed at his rear view mirror [alias; Ivan's Father], but other than that, this character is calm in every situation. He navigates countless "roadblocks" without panic. Given Hardy's usual violent, sporadic characters (Bronson, Bane), his performance as Ivan makes Gandhi look like a radical. The only problem I had with this performance was quite an unfortunate and noticeable one. There's some sort of strange accent work going on here. It took me a good seven minutes to figure out that this was Hardy as a welshman. After pondering this choice for many hours once I left the cinema, I've come to the conclusion that the casting directors heard his efforts as Bane, and thought he'd have welsh in the bank in no time. Close, but no cigar. It's not unbearable, but it's definitely not welsh. On all other fronts, Hardy fills this character with ease. He breaks his norm, fits the bill and captures the audience. What more could you ask for?
