Road With Many Paths

Locke

I have once heard that life happens in a blink of an eye. Moments in time that can alter the course of a person’s life forever. There are happy moments like when a high school graduate learns that their top choice for university has accepted them into the school or when a woman accepts a man’s proposal of marriage. Of course there is the visa versa, learning of a death in the family or being fired from a job. Locke is a new British drama that gives us a glimpse into man’s life when he makes a life altering decision.

Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy The Dark Knight Rises) is one of the most respected construction foremen in England. But on the eve of one of the biggest concrete pours in all of Europe, Locke decides he must drive from Birmingham to London. Locke has made a mistake and feels that it is his duty to try and make it right somehow, even if it means losing his job and/or his marriage.

The reason the synopsis is so short is because that is the movie, Tom Hardy in a car driving and talking to people on the phone (sometimes even to himself). Now I know what you might be thinking, “that’s it?”…yes that is it. The fact of the matter is that this film is about consequences of our actions and the wonderful or harsh reality that is our life after one decision. I loved this film for the acting and just the mere simplicity of it. Tom Hardy is amazing in this film due because Hardy does so much with so little. All that is filmed of Hardy is from the chest up because he is sitting in a car driving, but he shows the audience the inner struggle that Locke is now facing emotionally. I would love to see his name on an award ballot come January or February.

The simplicity of the film comes from Steven Knight, writer and director. As mentioned before, this is just a window into a man’s decision to do, what he believes, is the right thing. Knight gives just enough information so that we, the audience, are intrigued and Hardy does the rest with his acting to keep us watching. Knight does a lot of very interesting things with the camera as not to make the film boring. Knight does a lot of fades to the cars surrounding Locke and some blocked shots through the car windshield to show Locke in an empty car. Knight gives us these looks to show how much Locke is alone physically and psychologically.

A very well acted and underrated film that just reiterates that life can change in a moment’s notice and what choices we make to deal with those changes can have major implications to said life.

The Verdict: Worth Your Time.