After a string of great performance including Warrior; Inception; Bronson; The Drop and big box office hits The Dark Knight Rises and Mad Max; Fury Road, it would be fair to say we are fans of Tom Hardy now, and we now add Locke to his great films!
We first really came aware of him in RocknRolla, the under-rated Guy Ritchie film, but his performances which also include Legend; Lawless and TV hit Peaky Blinders, really have made him one of the most watchable actors today, something we would never have said after his performance in Star Trek: Nemesis.
This is more incredible when you find out Tom has thought drug and alcohol addictions, to be the dog loving actor we know him to be today.
So when the film, Locke, came on our TV recently, we had to watch it, this film could not be any more different than Captain America: Civil War and it was all the better for it!
Tom is the only actor in the film, playing Ivan Locke, we learn that he is a loving family man and dedicated to his work as a construction plant manager.
The film follows him, on a life-changing journey, and we follow his car ride from Birmingham to London, as his passenger so to speak, taking various calls on his phone.
The reason for the journey is that he had a one night stand with the lonely Bethan, (voiced by Olivia Coleman) which has resulted in her getting pregnant, whilst they had been drinking when he was away from home, at a job in London.
She has gone into labour early, so Locke is rushing to see her in hospital, to be there at her side for the delivery, as she has no one else!
We also know that he hasn’t told his wife yet of this affair, as he was waiting until the baby was due. The early labour has now thrown his life apart as he must now tell his wife, Katrina (voiced by Ruth Wilson) over the phone.
To make matters worse for Locke, he had to oversee the biggest job of his career and must now relay all that needs to be done to his foreman Donal (voiced by Andrew Scott).
This being such an important job results in Locke being fired, but being a proud man he ignores requests to hand the job over to someone else, ignoring Gareth (voiced by Ben Daniels). He instead oversees Donal, taking him step by step through what needs to be done.
Over the 90 minutes of this film, every call puts more pressure on Locke! Bethan, desperate for him at her bed side; Katrina telling him not to come home, their marriage is over and Donal, not knowing what to do and risking everything by drinking on the job.
We hear from his two sons, including new Spider-Man, Tom Holland, who want to talk about the big football game, and what he and their mum are arguing about.
From Writer/Director Steven Knight, creator of Peaky Blinders, this is a fantastic piece of film making, you would not believe a film which involves just one man taking calls in a car could be so riveting!
The only film similar that we can think of is Buried, which featured Ryan Reynolds, in a coffin, buried alive, with only a phone and a lighter to keep him company, as he desperately tries to find a way out.
Of course, Locke has no death threat but it does highlight that when we make choices, consequences can happen! In this case, one night of drunken passion has seen this proud man lose his job and seemingly his marriage too.
In a world where sequels are now common, we would love to see more of Locke, including how he rebuilds his life after this long drive, how about you? We would love to hear from you here at Barking Mad About Films
4 Stars out of 5 for Locke
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