Streaming Now: ‘Locke’

The film occurs within the bounds of ‘Locke’s BMW X5, with the nighttime streetlights lending a sallow yellow cast to the whole affair.|

Imagine you’ve had a long day at the construction site and you have a nasty head cold and you just want to get home and watch the Birmingham City match… but you have to drive to London to see the lady you had a one night stand with who’s having your baby prematurely and your coworker is stressing you out about the process for pouring 318 trucks worth of cement for the foundation of the biggest project you’ve ever worked on and your wife is at home with your two sons and she wants to know when to put the sausages on and you’ve got to tell her that you’re having another woman’s child and sometimes, when you’re not on the phone with these people, you’re rekindling an old argument with the ghost of your father, that bastard-siring bastard. That’s the situation for Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy) in “Locke” (2013).

As Locke chugs cough syrup and proceeds down the motorway, he wrangles all sorts of phone calls. This one is his boss firing him, the next one is his wife sobbing on the toilet, the next is a doctor explaining the circumstances of an emergency caesarian section. Locke never has a moment to put on some Britpop and chill; “Suedehead” might have given him the opportunity for a nice cry.

The film occurs within the bounds of Locke’s BMW X5, with the nighttime streetlights lending a sallow yellow cast to the whole affair. Writer/director Steven Knight unsubtly conflates in Locke’s mind the laying of the monumental building foundation - the biggest commercial pour of concrete in history - with the birth of his child.

Given you only see Hardy, it’s nice to hear some familiar voices: Olivia Colman plays the mistress, and Andrew Scott is superb as the drunken construction foreman. Locke’s calls with his kids are poignant because they just want to know why the hell he isn’t more excited about Caldwell - that donkey Caldwell of all people! - finally tallying in the big game.

“Locke” begs an important question: Why is Tom Hardy, that gorgeous specimen, so committed to doing a silly voice in every role? Just listen to how he speaks in “Peaky Blinders” vs. “Venom” vs. “The Revenant.” In “Locke,” he saddles himself with pitter-pattering Welsh accent that’s far too fancy for his face.

In fairness, his modulated tone is a key element to the film’s examination of masculinity. Locke screams expletives and pounds the steering wheel, but only in between calls - otherwise he patiently explains himself and presses on alone, down the road to nowhere.

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