Ranking Tom Hardy’s 10 Best Performances (By How Much You Can Understand Him)

6. Bronson (2008)

While Warrior might have been Hardy€™s breakout American role, an equally strong case could be made that Bronson was his real breakout role in the UK. Not many films are quite as original as Bronson, and under the direction of Danish film auteur Nicolas Winding Refn, Hardy absolutely kills it as the notoriously violent criminal Michael Gordon Peterson. But throughout the manic journey that Winding Refn and Hardy take the viewer on, the entire screen is used and Hardy€™s performance is as much about his physicality, as it is about the actual words he says. If you're from the UK, you probably don't have quite as much trouble understanding what the hell he is on about during the film and you might take it for granted that he is merely speaking a dialect of €˜English English€™. But internationally that language barrier (which might not even be noticed by British audiences) is a far more significant issue - even in other countries that speak English as their first language. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WjoAe2aymM Bronson is a near perfect movie and Hardy is infectiously energetic throughout the film €“ but given the nature of the character€™s crazy style and thick accent, the film makes viewers unfamiliar with colloquial English, really work to understand just what on earth this hyperactive and enormously entertaining character is actually on about. Like all of these films it doesn't really matter, as the visual style is so compelling that you could probably just watch it without sound and be entertained regardless.