**
Leaving work one evening, Locke
goes on a long drive to London. On the way, his life crumbles about him as he
makes a series of telephone calls.
I should perhaps make it clear
from the outset that one of the stars I have given this film is down to pure
creativity – I have never before seen a film such as this, wherein one
character spends the duration sitting in a car making phone calls to various acquaintances.
We only see Locke (Tom Hardy) outside of the car at the beginning of the film –
for the rest he is behind the wheel of his car, speaking into his phone as he
drives along various motorways. Even though I don’t think the film ‘works’, I
think it is an interesting idea and could have potentially worked if there had
been any kind of human interaction, perhaps through flashbacks. As it is, all
we have are the various voices that come across the loudspeaker, and this is
quite alienating – Tom Hardy is the only face we see.
So, seeing as this is technically
only a one-star film in my eyes, what is wrong with it? Well, I was just bored
by it. I didn’t care for Locke, nor any of the people he spoke to. I thought
the images of lights passing on the motorway was quite effective, but that is
not enough to sustain a narrative. Also, I came to be incredibly annoyed by the
phone incessantly ringing – every time that awful ring tone (it was actually a
rather innocuous sound, really) sounded, I found myself getting more and more
annoyed. I found the majority of the people he spoke to irritating as well: why
was Donal so useless - Hadn’t he been trained how to do his job?; and why was
Bethan so drippy? JUST GET UP AND SHUT THE WINDOW! Similarly, you are simply
hit over the head with the BMW product placement in the opening scene – we get
chose ups of the emblem multiple times, and at points the film seems to be just
one long advertisement for the Bluetooth capabilities the car has to offer.
I really, really wanted to like
this film – I had heard and read so many rave reviews, but it was so
disappointing. Hardy pulls off the one-man show very well and he is certainly
an engaging screen presence, even if his accent is a little dubious. It just
didn’t work for me, which is a shame because the idea is so original.
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