Brutal, rough, great.
Here it is, another proof of how Tom Hardy is one of the best actors of his generation. In Bronson he is absolutely magnificent! This film is Tom Hardy. Without his amazing performance this film wouldn't have been so good as it is.
What is more amazing about the story of this film is that is actually a true story. The story of a man born by the name of Michael Peterson, that later chooses to be entitled as Charles Bronson. He is considered one of the most violent English prisoners ever.
In the film we can see two different types of man. The man who has a more soft side, the guy that can deceive you showing what apparently seems to be a calm man even behind his robust and muscular figure. And the violent and angry man that is able to transform himself into a lunatic. Tom Hardy was able to portray this two sides in such an excellent way! We can totally feel through him the character's anger but also the character's emotional side just by the look of his eyes. See a vulnerable side of such a tough man was what I think it was more interesting in the film, I liked that.
Doing a film about a man who constantly beats up prison guards with no apparent reason might be very difficult because we definitely can't understand why he grew up with such anger inside of him, of course we can take our own conclusions and after all there's a lot of violent people in the world with no reason for it, but there is no big resolution for this story actually if you research about the real Charles Bronson he continues to be in prison, so my main complaint about the film might be the repetition of some scenes. Scenes that you already know how will end but that will not prevent you to be entertained all over the way and with Tom Hardy's fantastic performance it is completely impossible not to like what you are watching!
Nicolas Winding Refn is definitely a very stylish director that likes interesting and bizarre stories. Bronson is a "one man show" film with a very strong direction.
