Tom Hardy: 10 Greatest movies of all time
By Rachel Roth
8. Locke
Original Release Date: Released on April 18, 2014 in the UK
Box Office Earnings: Grossed around $5 million
Critical Reception: It has a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and received much praise for its unique narrative. Hardy’s performance got him four nominations and the Best Actor win from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.
About the Role: Hardy is the only actor visually shown on screen for the entirety of the film acting in a one-man show. You hear other character’s voices, but they’re never shown, some of the voice actors include Tom Holland, Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson, and Andrew Scott. Hardy plays the title character, Ivan Locke, a collected businessman and the best kind of perfectionist whose life is about to unravel from a single mistake.
Simply the Best: For a pitch that must have sounded exceedingly boring, this is surprisingly a fantastic film. The unraveling of a man’s life taking place in one setting. The whole film, from start to finish, happens in Locke’s car as he makes several hundred phone calls to various people. The plot is told through the phone calls as Locke explains what is happening to his wife, sons, and co-workers during a two-hour drive.
He’s dedicated to his wife, to his sons, and most importantly to his job, but, one mistake later and he’s gotten a woman pregnant. He doesn’t love her, something he makes painstakingly clear, but he’s determined to make the drive up to London to be there when she gives birth. It’s a powerful look at the damage adultery can cause, in the accidental creation of a life and the destruction of another.