Locke: 10 Reasons It's The Most Awesome Boring Film You'll Ever See

1. Tom Hardy Is Astounding

Really, this goes without saying. Ever he emerging from the wreck of Star Trek: Nemesis Hardy's been on the up, but he's never shown it like this. Usually, his roles are all about big acting, dominating the room with a larger than life character of immense physical presence. As one film reviewer once said, of all the Hollywood stars, he looks like the one who'd be most likely to nut you on the red carpet. It's a trait he channels into his performances, making Bane, Charles Bronson and Eames from Inception hugely charismatic and unpredictable figures, capable of anything. Yet Ivan Locke is a different beast €“ he's much more muted than anything Hardy's done before, and doesn't have the luxury of falling back on a set-piece or a moment of over-the-top dramatic fireworks. Locke isn't holding Gotham hostage, fighting a slew of policemen or firing a grenade launcher. He's just a workaday construction foreman, and requires Hardy to dredge up a litany of small acting moments. The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw said you should just keep watching his face throughout, and that's excellent advice €“ there's no real 'big' moment in Locke, just a collection of little ones that Hardy has to navigate with a masterclass in subtlety. And he pulls it off expertly, giving us a window into the soul of an otherwise-inscrutable man who's got all sorts of rage and regret bubbling under a composed exterior. It's the little touches, like not answering the phone until after three rings even when you can plainly see he's being overwhelmed that really sell this performance, and if there's any justice, he'll get some sort of awards nod for it. It definitively proves Hardy's real-deal status, and he does it all with a Welsh brogue Richard Burton would envy. That's hardly bad, is it?