IFFBoston: Watch A Man Lose Everything In 90 Minutes In “Locke”
George Huertas ‘16 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
Steven Knight, the writer of Eastern Promises and Dirty Pretty Things, wrote and directed this work, which functions largely as a one-man show for lead performer Tom Hardy. Hardy plays Locke as a man filled with conflict and self-doubt, as his attempt to rectify a moral transgression in his past dismantles his life in the present.
Hardy’s Locke has the look of a man who is tired, tired of the secrets he must keep, tired of the responsibilities he must bear. And, most of all, tired of the specter of his absentee father. Some of the most intense conversations in the film occur between Locke and the imaginary ghost of his father, whom he “sees” behind him in the backseat of his car.
Under Knight’s steady direction and Hardy’s riveting performance, Locke turns what could have been a gimmicky exercise (begin and end a story, in real-time, in ninety minutes) into a riveting and intense portrayal of one man and his attempts to keep his life in order as it all comes crashing down around him. The action on display is just about as exciting as anything that can be seen in a Hollywood blockbuster or thriller.
For ninety minutes, Ivan Locke is held captive by the film’s narrative, and he is unable to pull himself away. And we are unable, too.
Overall Grade: A-