Better Late Than Never on "Bronson"

While looking for a movie to watch yesterday I came across a Tom Hardy movie called "Bronson". I was searching on Amazon, it was free and I like Tom Hardy. I watched the trailer and it intrigued me enough to press play.

I don't know, nor did I recognize, any other actor in the movie, but that doesn't really matter. This was a full on Tom Hardy movie. He was in every single scene. He was the focal point and they did not try to hide that while making this movie. Nicolas Winding Refn is the director, and while "Drive" is one of the best and coolest movies ever made, he has about a 50 percent hit rate with me. But he makes interesting and unique movies, so the fact that he was directing and Hardy was starring, that was all I needed.

What I proceeded to watch for the next 90 minutes was unlike anything I have seen in quite some time. This movie came out in 2008, so it was before Hardy was playing Bane, but you can see his star potential here. "Bronson" tells a somewhat true story of Michael Peterson, aka Charles Bronson, London's most notorious criminal. He went to jail in the 70's for robbing a post office, but due to his constant conflict, he has spent right around 34 years in prison, 30 of which have been done in solitary confinement. This movie tells us his story of how he ended up in prison, what led him to make bad choices and the why and how of him constantly ending up in solitary.

Hardy is incredible in this role. He embodies this prisoner. From the way he talks to how buff he got for the role to his constant fights involving prison guards, Hardy nails it. He also narrates the story and does something akin to a one man show. There were quick cuts and jumps back and forth from prison to telling his story in front of an audience. I thought this was a cool and different way to tell a story like this. I have never seen a prison story told in this manner. Hardy chews up the scenery like no other here too. That made this movie decent to me. I really liked the fight scenes. I enjoyed seeing him tell his story. I thought the prison stuff felt real. I liked how bi polar he was as this character. He would fly off the rails at any given moment, but this was always after he was, seemingly, calm. But you knew that there was almost always a storm brewing. I will say, there's a ton of full frontal nudity in this movie too. Apparently this prisoner likes to grease himself up before he gets into fights, and Hardy was more than game to do this. He would grease himself up, strip down to nothing but his shoes and socks and get himself ready to fight. This would lead to fight scenes where Hardy's manhood was just flopping around. I give Hardy credit for going to these lengths, but man do I really know what his genitals look like now. Anyway, the movie was still keeping my interest throughout all of that.

Where the movie would miss for me was, they had these long scenes where almost nothing was being said, and they just sat on a still of Hardy. This added nothing to the story for me. This felt about mastubatory for Hardy and Refn. It was like they were saying, look at all these muscles I gained to play this role. Or look at how menacing I can be. Or this manchild really is a violent criminal. We got all of that from previous scenes in the movie. I didn't need to see him brooding for what seemed like an eternity at times. I also liked the scenes where he would get ready to fight the guards, but the buildup seemed way too long. The final battle sees Hardy as Bronson painting his art teacher to look like a classic work. You think something bad may happen to the teacher, but as soon as the teacher starts crying, Hardy proclaims that he has had enough and he is ready to fight. All of that felt like a big buildup to just another fight between Bronson and the guards, where they beat his ass. But, that just seems like Refn's way. He seems like he may be a bit full of himself. I wouldn't be shocked if he calls himself an auteur as opposed to a director.

I will say, even with my little quibbles, "Bronson" held my attention, and it was all due to Hardy. He is magnetic to watch on screen. There are few actors that I can watch a movie solely focused on one character, but Hardy fits the bill for me. Not only did I kind of like "Bronson", I truly love another movie that he is the lone star in, "Locke". He just has a way of owning the screen like few others can.

Would I recommend "Bronson"? to certain people, yes. This movie is violent. This movie is grim. But it also has one of the wildest scores for a movie like this and Hardy's performance is worth your time. Make no mistake, this is what many would consider an "art" film, but it also takes chances other movies may not. Check it out if you have the time. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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