Would you walk away from everything you once knew, to
embrace a future that is unknown? That is the question posed in the exceptional
drama “Locke” which I sat down to watch this evening.
Driving quietly in and out of theatres, this short but powerful
character study stars the ever versatile Tom Hardy. He plays Ivan Locke, and we
meet him as he enters his car, starts the engine, and begins to drive. The
entire film takes place in his vehicle. When movies decide to focus on one
setting, it can work effectively if done right. A note worthy example is
“Buried” starring Ryan Reynolds, about a man who wakes up in a coffin, with a
cell phone and begins to make calls to figure out where he is and save his
life, before the phone battery dies. Locke uses this treatment of a one man
show in a car, as Ivan drives along the long, dark freeway towards his new
life.
Without giving away too much of the plot, the story centres
on Ivan taking responsibility for a mistake. A man of integrity and principle,
he is also the one in charge of a large construction company, and in the morning
to follow this night, an enormous concreting project is about to get underway. For
a decade, Locke has served his company well and never put a foot wrong. It’s
his life outside the job where things have crumbled. But as solid and strong as
the concrete he lays, Locke will follow through on the decision he’s made to
face his mistake head on, whatever the cost.
Locke is a short film as I mentioned, at less than eighty
minutes, and even with one actor driving a car for that whole time, it fills its
space and time with an immense amount for your viewing experience. It is rich
in themes and character motivations that pull you in and keep your eyes locked
on Locke for its entirety. As you watch this movie, your mind will race with
questions. As you must use your own imagination to picture who Locke is
speaking to (as only their voices are heard on his car phone) you can relish in
the fact that you’re watching a classic example of how powerful and impacting
cinema can be. It’s a shame that not a lot of people saw Locke and gave it the
attention it deserved upon its initial release, but I’m sure that as word of
mouth spreads, it will garner a respectful following. Do yourself a favour and
watch this movie.
You will not see acting much finer than what is on display
here. Tom Hardy is modern cinemas most versatile and compelling actor. Each
role he steps into, he does so with the craft and creativity of an incredible
performer. From Bane in The Dark Knight, to Max in the recent Mad Max: Fury
Road, and many other roles, the English actor can transform himself into
whoever he needs to be to become the character and tell the story through that
character. Still a relative newcomer to the screen, Hardy draws on acting
talents and an evident connection to a life well lived in the real world before
he came to Hollywood, that you
forget you are watching acting at all. Here, he is galvanizing, endearing and enigmatic,
without being too showy or over the top. There is a depth to his persona that
earns your attention and with his performance at the centre of this brilliant
film, you feel like you’re riding in the car with him, as he leaves one life
behind to arrive at a new one.
Locke is also driven by the concept about facing your
mistakes, but also the importance of responsibility. You can’t help but ask
yourself, “What would I do if I were in his situation?” you could either just
go home and pretend no mistakes were made, and appear to live your life out in
a happy little existence, but be plagued by the knowing in your own mind that
the mistake you made would continue to live on, and someday come to find you. Or,
like the ever integral Ivan Locke, you can choose to make that turn at the traffic
light, drive towards where your mistake is calling you to be, and try to fix
the errors you will leave behind while you’re on the way there. Locke cannot
leave any stone unturned, as he has built a career and a life on being a man
who fixes things. But can he fix what he has broken here?
My mind is still viewing this movie even though the DVD has
stopped playing. I had to jump on here and write my review straight away, to
try and capture what I just watched. There are some films that come along you
must watch in your life. We can’t watch them all, and even though I’ve seen a
lot of movies and continue to watch a lot, even I can’t watch them all. But I
made an effort to watch Locke, and very glad I did. For Tom Hardy, it is another
brilliant performance he can add to his belt and continue his quest of becoming
one of today’s most exciting and talented actors. Surely an Oscar is not too
far off in his future, and in fact, he should have been nominated here.
I don’t talk up movies very often, as a lot of them today
are just escapism to let us switch off and disconnect from reality for a while
and connect with fantasy. Locke however, is firmly rooted in reality and deals
with a situation that is probably more common than people would like to
acknowledge it is. But the manner in which the execution of this story is
handled is nothing short of professional in every way. For an 80 minute movie
set entirely in a car, with one man and the voices of a few other actors,
director Steven Knight uses just about every camera angle, light effect and
transition to maximise the locale and incorporate the sounds and sights of
other cars passing by on a darkened freeway, to portray the journey and mental
state of Ivan as he drives further and further away from his life, trying his
best to pick up the broken pieces and walk away with some dignity intact.
Do yourself a favour and experience Locke. You’ll be glad
you did, as it’s a perfect example of the power of great storytelling, terrific
acting and a simple premise done well to reassure you that movies aren’t just
escapism and entertainment, but a window into ourselves and our lives, in both
the most revealing and rewarding ways.
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