Tom Hardy in ‘Locke’/Image © A24 Films
Tom Hardy has the muscular build and raspy voice of a bruiser, so it’s no wonder he’s often cast as a man comfortable with violence. Since his feature-film debut as an Army Ranger under siege in 2001’s “Black Hawk Down,” Hardy has amassed credits and acclaim as a mixed-martial artist, a sociopath, a rogue spy, a terrorist, and one of the UK’s most notorious inmates. Still, Hardy hasn’t quite cracked a high profile, in part because he’s physically transformed himself for multiple roles. But his latest film, “Locke,” could boost his marquee status a bit before he’s seen next year in “Mad Max: Fury Road,” continuing George Miller’s saga of a former cop in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Now in theaters, “Locke” is a tour de force for Hardy. Set entirely inside a BMW driving across England at night, the film casts Hardy as construction manager Ivan Locke, who fights for his job and his marriage via cell phone while on a mission he can’t ignore. Writer-director Steven Knight (“Eastern Promises,” “Dirty Pretty Things”) won a British Independent Film Award for the original screenplay. Reviews have praised the way he “makes much of this confined space,” as well as the cinematic reflections of headlights and streetlamps. The story’s taut focus helps showcase his talent: “It’s a brilliant performance from Hardy, who delivers an impeccable, oddly comforting Welsh accent and feigns calm and control while always making clear that, inside, his character is falling apart,” writes Time Out.
Learn more about Hardy’s tough-guy roles in my piece here — and why his most impressive disguise might be his macho veneer. “I don’t feel very manly,” he’s said. “I don’t feel rugged and strong and capable in real life, not how I imagine a man ought to be.”