Monday 28 April 2014

Locke (5 Stars)


Ivan Locke is a good man. He loves his wife and children. He works long hours as the Birmingham manager of a multi-national construction company, and every day he drives home to his family. But then the unthinkable happens. One day before the start of the biggest project of his career, the boring of the site for a 55-floor building, he doesn't go home. He rings his wife and tells her he is going to spend the night in London. He rings his boss and tells him he's taking the next day off.

As we find out, while on a business trip the previous year he had a one-night stand with a woman from the London branch of his company. She's about to have a baby, and he's driving to be with her because it's the right thing to do. He has no feelings for the woman, but he feels compelled to be with her, even if it jeopardises his family and his career. He feels he has responsibilities to both the woman and the child.

The whole film takes place in Ivan's car as he drives to London. We see nobody else. We only hear the voices of the people he talks to on the phone as he drives: his wife, his sons, the other woman, his boss, an employee and various other people. The film is unique in its minimalism. In the hands of a lesser director or a less competent actor it would have been boring. The team of Steven Knight and Tom Hardy lift the film to the level of brilliance. If this film doesn't get at least a nomination for next year's best film Academy Awards there's no justice in the world.

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