Bronson

[modage]

Trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/bronson/

After a great trailer, some Sundance buzz, and missing the BAM screening I had tickets to earlier this year, I was pretty excited to see this "Brilliant...Electrifying...Amazing" film.  Unfortunately, with the exception of Tom Hardy's magnetic performance the film is pretty much a dud.  The film is hardly the fastpaced, stylized, hilarious true story it promises, instead a monotonous series of fights with no development or progression whatsoever.

The backstory shown in the trailer is pretty much all the insight you get as the film dives right into Bronson's first prison sentence.  We don't know why this man would be possessed to do these things and we don't ever see the perspective of the film change.  Scenes are cut to pop or classical music without regard for their importance.  Other than it looking cool why are we hearing this song while the prison guard walks down the hallway?  When it's all over we don't know any more about this characters inexplicable violence than when we started. So what was it all for?

[Stefen]

Yeah, aside from Tom Hardy's badass performance, I wasn't really feeling anything about this flick either.

One things for sure, though; Nicolas Winding Refn is definitely a filmmaker to keep an eye on. I haven't seen anything else he's done, but he shows glimpses of greatness here. Valhalla Rising sounds awesome and is getting some good buzz.

[ono]

Agreed.  I saw this at the Charlotte Film Festival a few weeks ago.  About the time Bronson (spoiler) strangled the fellow inmate with the curtain cord I'd had enough, and for the reasons mod said - there's nothing deeper here.  I don't know that I would say this guy's worth keeping an eye on.  Visually, maybe: but for that reason he should probably stick to/move to music videos or his films will continue to be empty and soulless.  Having rewatched ACO a few nights ago, too, the comparisons are totally unwarranted (as these types of comparisons usually are).