Where does a road lead? Away, especially if you have resolved not to turn back. Locke is a road movie, but a road movie unlike any you have seen before. One road, one man, one night. A journey inside the mind and heart of a man whose life is about to change forever. A road trip which hurtles unavoidably towards a denouement and proves that an action movie needn't have much action in order to be taut, compelling, and totally engaging.
Locke is a construction project manager responsible for pouring the foundation of gargantuan buildings. His character is like the concrete he pours; dense, slow, measured, and ultimately solid. Each pour is a complicated mix of materials, men, red tape, and timing, and there is no room for mistakes. Everything must be perfect. First time. Only time. Except it isn't, of course. Humans are involved, with all their foibles. There is a crack in the edifice, and the crack has to do with a woman. Locke is leaving his job to attend the birth of a child he has fathered as the result of a one-night stand with an unstable older woman who has made her own choice. They don't know it yet, but he is leaving behind his wife and the two boys he adores. He is also quitting his job the night before the biggest non-nuclear project pour ever in Europe.
But you don't know this immediately (unless you have read this). All you know are the hands-free phone conversations that Locke (played immaculately by Tom Hardy in a mellifluous Welsh accent) has with his boss, his Irish tippler assistant Donal, his wife and kids, and the other woman. All you see is Locke's face and the reflections of the lights in the rain as the road draws him inexorably through the night towards London and an uncertain future.
Locke is faced with a perfect storm of unpalatable choices of his own creation. His dialogue with his wife (played admirably by Ruth Wilson), his other woman and his work colleagues are excruciating. And exhausting. The night rolls on. Locke has to decide. The road or concrete. Crack, or crack on.
A must see.
Five stars.
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