I'm gonna be honest, I haven't seen Tom Hardy in a number of things I've liked. Neither Inception nor The Dark Knight Rises exactly thrilled me, even though I felt he was one of the stronger aspects of the latter (silly voice aside). It wasn't until Mad Max: Fury Road that I realized he was definitely an actor to watch in every sense of the word, giving me the motivation to finally take a look at 2008's Bronson.
Hardy stars in the titular role as Michael Gordon "Charlie Bronson" Peterson, one of the UK's most dangerous inmates. Charlie tells his story to an audience of well-dressed theatergoers as a sort of one-man show as we see various moments from his life, from his first incarceration, through his stint in an asylum, all through to the present day (where the real Charlie Bronson is currently still incarcerated, practicing outsider art). Those looking for a clearly-structured, biographical take on Charlie's life story will be disappointed, as the plot structure is far from the main event here.
This film is less a story and more a character study; we never get to see any kind of "origin" for the man who would end up serving life imprisonment in Her Majesty's Prison Service. There's no pivotal scene where an innocent little boy is disturbed into becoming a violent psychopath, no attempt to rationalize or explain Michael Peterson's behavior. To do so would rob the character of any mystique or interest. He's fascinating because he can't be explained. This is a man who views prison cells as luxury hotel rooms and takes pleasure in stripping naked to engage guards in bareknuckle fisticuffs; the second you try to explain that, Charlie Bronson just becomes another loony on screen. As is, it makes you wonder what kind of life could have produced a person like this, and therein lies the true value of this film.
Tom Hardy may as well be the only member of the cast. This is by no means an ensemble piece and, while there are a few minor characters who play into the plot, Charlie is always the main focus (which makes sense, really, considering this is his story after all). The man is pure electricity; you never quite know what he's going to do at any given moment. There's seemingly no method to his madness, and the fact that his performance was praised and approved by the actual Michael Peterson only makes it that much more enthralling. His is a character made up of mystery meat; there's enough raw substance there that you could potentially postulate for hours as to what caused him to end up the way he is, but at the end of it all, you get the impression you'd probably be wrong.
Tom Hardy plays the part with a mad kind of precision; you can't tell what's going on, but it feels as if he certainly does. If it wasn't for his performance, there'd be no movie. This story hinges entirely on the lead actor's ability to portray this larger-than-life figure, and Hardy more than succeeds. He manages to make you feel disgusted, sad, frightened, and above all just plain curious throughout the entire thing. He isn't just another violent lunatic in a movie, committing acts that are meant to come off as objectively good or bad. There's a multifaceted nuance to the character that comes with him being directly inspired by a real person that makes it very hard to place any kind of concrete feelings in regards to his actions. There are times when he's sweet and pitiable, just as there are times when he's savage and despicable. It's a role that requires a talented actor to pull it off successfully, and Tom Hardy exceeds all expectations.
Bronson is a film that, while unorthodox and a tad lacking in narrative direction, manages to be supremely thought-provoking thanks to the extraordinarily strong performance of Tom Hardy (and the extraordinarily fascinating person on whom the film is based). While it's not exactly the kind of film I would put on to unwind at the end of the day, I feel as though it certainly accomplishes its job of paining a nuanced portrait of a man who defies explanation. It's a wild time that definitely shouldn't be missed.
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