I like Tom Hardy. He got a lot of flack from people over the way Bane was portrayed (and the horrible audio through the mask) in the last movie from The Dark Knight Trilogy. I thought that there was a lot wrong with that movie, and it is unfair to place too much of the blame for it at Tom's feet. He was spectacular in Lawless (he carried the movie) and he did a sensational job opposite Patrick Stewart in the last of The Next Generation movies.
It's nice that Tom is a good actor, as this movie relies entirely on his abilities. There are other people in the movie, but they are all voices on the phone. The entire movie takes place as Tom is driving his BMW SUV to London to see the premature birth of his illegitimate child. In order to make it interesting, this is also the night before a very important, complicated, and expensive thing happens at work that he is responsible for. Not enough drama? He hasn't told his wife about the baby or the mistress yet, and he is clearly pretty crappy about interpersonal communications in general.
The way the camera shots get switched from one to the next is an effort to keep the visual changing. the road shots are pretty pointless, and probably the most annoying thing is that he's in a hurry, and he said he is rushing to get to the hospital, but people seem to keep passing him. He also changes lanes without signaling and without actually overtaking anyone. I wasn't expecting a Top Gear style review of the BMW (I think it's an X5) but the infotainment center is featured quite a bit, and it seems like it's really easy to flip through contacts with... I should get a BMW. I need a raise first.
One of the quirkier things about the character is the way they generate exposition by having him yell at the empty rear seat through his rear view mirror. Whenever he does this, and he seems to only do it to prop himself up, he is yelling at his father and telling him what a jerk he was when he was alive and what a damn good job he, Tom, is doing.
Direction was good
Acting was excellent
Story was simple but very good
Editing was good
4.0/5