The Hardy Boy

I have temporarily moved on from my Michael Fassbender fascination to a new man. I’m movie cheating on Fassbender with Tom Hardy, probably most memorable to some as the Eames from Inception. This week I watched two movies starring the Brittish dreamboat set to appear next in the action/romantic comedy, This Means War with Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine (totally not as dreamboaty).  I watched two movies where Tom plays characters that are angry/violent and slightly charming in a fucked up way, but both very different. Both Roles required him to put on like 50 pounds of muscle but his general charisma onscreen trumps his hot  oily muscles and shines in both Bronson (2008) and in Warrior (2011).


BRONSON:
Bronson is loosely based on the true life of one of England’s most violent prisoners, Michael Gordon Peterson who after being told by a boxing promoter that his real name was not good for his image, suggests changing it to American film badass Charles Bronson.  By being one of the most violent prisoners, Bronson has spent pretty much his entire life in prison. What is interesting is that the crimes he committed while on the outside were petty thefts. It was his infractions while incarcerated that landed him in solitary confinement for over 30 years.  


The narrative style of the film uses voice over and intermittent interviews with Bronson and depicts scenes of what might be going on inside his head to showcase the complete lack of desire to lead a “normal” life. It’s easy to assume that he just has anger issues and just wants to beat the shit out of people because he does do a lot of that in the film. However there are moments sprinkled throughout the film that show a glimmer of a man attempting (poorly) to live outside prison stagnant environment. These parts are where the movie shows its dark humor, watching Hardy portraying a man so obviously trying to control his body while trying to give a girl a ring he stole is priceless!


The movie never really digs deep to show us why Bronson is the way he is but showcases moments from his life that end up (bottom line) defining what and who he is, one crazy MF, but a fun one to watch. Another favorite scene of mine is when he takes a guard hostage in his cell and begins to rub butter all over his body so that when he gets ready to fight the 6 or so guards that come to save the hostage he is too slippery to get control over. The butter scene I think is a metaphor for Bronson entire life. No one is in control of him according to him but unfortunately the cage and cement cell he perpetually lives in says otherwise.


WARRIOR:
I guess there is “Filmaker’s Guide to Location Scouting” book out there somewhere and the chapter on Boxing and MMA( Mixed Martial Arts) movies says, “ If you do not shoot a movie of this nature on the East Coast, preferably, Boston, Philly, New York  or New Jersey than it will suck.” Warrior is the story of an estranged family of two bothers and an alcoholic father (The “Filmaker’s Guide to Casting” also says if you need someone to play your alcoholic father you’re up shit creek if you can’t get Nick Nolte).  Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton play Tommy and Brenden Conlon (Irish much?) Tommy is a war hero and Brenden is a physics teacher and through various unfortunate circumstances and scowling at each other, the two end up training to be a part of the world’s biggest MMA competition (like a UFC) called “Sparta.”  Brenden does it because he has to, because those pesky mortgages can really sucker punch you when you least except it and Tommy does it because he is harboring a great deal of anger over what happened to his marine friend back in Afghanistan and cannot let go of the fact that his big brother abandoned him when he and his mother attempted to escape the alcoholic dad. These family tid bits are not told to you right away, rather they are subtly revealed through the entire film so you don’t really realize the fucked up nature of the estrangement until later on in the film and I appreciated that. It always nice when a screenwriter/director trust the audience to figure some things out for themselves.


There were for sure a lot of boxing moving stereotypes in the movie but they just swapped out the boxing for MMA. Over all I think it was actually very moving and I really bought the characters and what they were going through. I’m not going to reveal the climax but the end was very good and there is resolution that comes in a way only two guys trained to fight their whole lives can understand and its kinda some moving ass shit. Hardy, as I mentioned plays the strong silent type but once again is so good at conveying vulnerability through his facial expressions. I’m stoked to see him in more stuff.


I recommend both these movies if you’re in the mood for watching people get beat up by Tom Hardy.
P.S. He is also playing Bane in the new Batman (Sqweekkk!!!)