Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Year Released: 2009
Rating: 1.5
Exaggerated fantasy loosely - very, very loosely - based on the life of notorious British inmate Michael Peterson - also known as "Charles Bronson" (not, apparently, after the actor) - who gained notoriety for staging kidnappings, beating the shit out of fellow prisoners and the authorities (and getting beaten himself), selling his art and books and generally engaging in various forms of self-promotion (while costing the British taxpayers lots of pounds). The core performance by Tom Hardy is fearless and wonderfully embellished, but the picture itself is hyper-stylized and textually thin, much like John Maybury's visually appealing film of Francis Bacon. Its 'anti-hero' is an attention whore who brings problems to himself and is really his own worst enemy: he may be 'clinically sane' (according to his web site) but that doesn't mean he's worthy of pity or even understanding and the picture's essential function is as a showy celebration of a daft hooligan. Also, there are plenty of mentions of Death Wish but not The Great Escape? Who missed that?
