North Texas Daily

Preston Barta // Film Critic

“Locke,” 85 min.
Rated R for language throughout.
Director: Steven Knight
Stars: Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman and Ruth Wilson

Rating: 4/5

Like “Buried” (2010) with Ryan Reynolds, this feature keeps things dead simple: one man and one location. “Locke” does not include car chases or crashes. It’s merely a movie in which Tom Hardy (“The Dark Knight Rises”) drives around in a car for the film’s 90-minute duration and induces intense phone conversations about concrete and a newborn. So those looking for flashy visuals and big action scenes should turn elsewhere, for “Locke” is a triumph in minimalist filmmaking and a master class in acting.

NT Daily sat down with writer-director Steven Knight (“Eastern Promises”) in Dallas. We talked about shooting his movie all at once, Tom Hardy’s acting abilities and the possibility of “Eastern Promises 2.”

“Locke” is in theaters today.

Feature Photo: Left, Writer-director Steven Knight and Tom Hardy attend the A24 and The Cinema Society premiere of ‘Locke’ at The Paley Center for Media on April 22, 2014 in New York City. Photo courtesy of A24 /Stephen Lovekin.