½
UK | USA 2013
Starts June 19, 2014
Directed by: Steven Knight
Writing credits: Steven Knight
Cast: Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott, Ben Daniels, Tom Holland, Bill Milner
Length: 85 minutes
“Right now nothing’s a joke.” On the eve of a career-making project, site manager Ivan Locke (Hardy) takes off for London. The car phone is his lifeline, and noose. Bethan’s (Colman, voice) stunned, then reproachful yet Ivan insists he has to “take care of my fuck-up”; their teenage sons just want dad home. Pressures mount: The daybreak delivery of 6,500 tons of C6 concrete must be monitored: his assistant Donal (Scott, voice) needs firm guidance; his boss Gareth (Daniels, voice) has to tell Chicago, and Katrina’s (Wilson, voice) clingy. During the drive from Scotland to London Ivan fluctuates from gut-determination and unfailing integrity to resigned remorse while confronting his past, until relieved by a new day dawning.
Trapped in the car, Tom Hardy’s facial nuances depicting a life laid bare are powerful, mesmerizing. Steven Knight’s screenplay and direction is engrossing, suspenseful. The entire cast captures their characters emotional essence. Haris Zambarloukos mounted three cameras on a car, and in eight nights accumulated incredible footage; Justine Wright’s judicious editing and Dickon Hinchliffe’s music match the tempo and pace of the tension, traffic, and psychological drama. Leaving the car, we know we have seen something special reminding us of what good filmmaking is all about. Steven Knight joins a growing list of young independent filmmakers creating new genres that move cinematic art into excitingly unconventional territory. ()