'Locke' Is More Involving Than Recent Hollywood Extravaganzas
By
Kenneth Turan |
NPR
Friday, April 25, 2014
Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or
Flash plugin.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
The innovative drama directed by Steven Knight takes place over the course of a tense, riveting car ride. Locke is an exploration of how one decision can lead to the complete collapse of a life.
Transcript
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
A new movie called "Locke" lists a dozen actors in its credits, but only one of them appears on screen. Our film critic Kenneth Turan says that's what makes this film special.
KENNETH TURAN, BYLINE: "Locke" sounds contrived, and it is. It may even sound boring, but that it is not. "Locke" is a real-time drama that takes place inside a moving BMW during the 85 minutes it takes construction foreman Ivan Locke, played by Tom Hardy, to make a nighttime drive from Birmingham to London.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "LOCKE")
TURAN: Locke is not only driving, he is engaged in an almost continuous series of hands-free phone conversations as he desperately attempts to keep the various parts of his life from collapsing. This may not sound like the formula for continuous tension but it is.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "LOCKE")
TURAN: That's Locke, normally insistent on doing the right thing, telling his boss he is not going to be around the next day to oversee the biggest job of his career. Locke is abandoning his post to be present at the birth of a baby he is the unwed father of, which greatly upsets his wife and sons.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "LOCKE")
TURAN: Writer-director Steven Knight does an expert job filling us in on why the usually conscientious Locke is acting this way. Star Tom Hardy was the villainous Bane in "The Dark Knight Rises," and he makes our involvement with Locke's predicament agonizingly total. This film may only have one location but we never want to take our eyes off the screen.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
GREENE: Kenneth Turan reviews movies for the Los Angeles Times and also for MORNING EDITION.
And you're listening to MORNING EDITION from NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
View this story on npr.org
Follow us for more stories like this
CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.
Donate Today