MovieChat Forums > Bronson (2009) Discussion > 3/10. Here's why:

3/10. Here's why:

posted 8 years ago by IMDB_Vits
6 replies | jump to latest

BRONSON is based on the real story of a prisoner so violent that he has spent most of his adult life in solitary confinement. I can imagine what that must be like, since watching this movie felt like a punishment. It skims through the title character's childhood really fast and the audience never finds out what exactly made him so aggressive. Throughout the movie, we see several situations that make him angry, but without something to remind ourselves "Oh, well, at least I know it's really because [blank]", it's hard to define him. I'm not saying that the movie has no insight; just not enough for a biopic of a person like that. He's is shown through multiple perspectives: A dramatic one, a funny one, a scary one... and Tom Hardy nails all of them.

You can read comments of other movies at http://vits-ingthemovies.blogspot.cl/2016/03/comments-round-up-february-2016.html

Any thoughts?

[–] damianberry49240 8 years ago

When I finished watching this movie I had to ask myself, did I enjoy this movie or didn't I? I don't' consider myself a film critic or expert, but there is one criteria or thought that I use for myself while watching a movie, and that is: After the movie is about 30 or 40 minutes into it, do I care about what happens to the main character? I have quit watching quite a few films if I was that unconcerned.

In Bronson, I thought Tom Hardy's acting was sensational. I was drawn to how good the acting was, and I was really enjoying the film. By the end of the movie my thought was, "Okay, Hardy was excellent. But the character Bronson was just an extremely violent person and he certainly doesn't deserve to be let out of prison. In fact, he needs to be kept locked up in the most secure conditions (for the safety of others) possible for the rest of his life. After looking Bronson up online and seeing the multitude of other things he's done in prison that weren't shown in the film I felt the feelings even stronger.

Bronson says he has a normal childhood but very little of that is shown. (This is one of the reasons I liked Rob Zombie's version of Halloween in some ways as much as the original.)

Tom Hardy was fantastic in the movie, but the feeling of the story not being complete is what makes this fall short of being a great film and not just a good one. Maybe the purpose by the director was to show that Bronson went to prison and that's where he wants to be. I just felt like the story fell a little short somewhere.

[–] IMDB_Vits 8 years ago

I have quit watching quite a few films if I was that unconcerned.

Which ones?

[–] KhurramAtta 8 years ago

1/10 for your review.
Here's why: That *beep* blog

Top 250 Foreign Movies
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls076565151/

[–] CichlidAsh 8 years ago

He says at the start he had a normal childhood with good parents there was nothing in it that made him violent he just is. What would you like them too do make a load of crap up so you can feel safer at night?

To make a great film you need three things - the script, the script and the script -Alfred Hitchcock

[–] IMDB_Vits 8 years ago

Something must've made him violent and it most likely happened when he was a kid. That should've been shown.

[–] pdlussier1 7 years ago

I fear that the issue here lies in your insistence that such behaviour must be the result of 'nurture' only, and is therefore classifiable as a personality disorder i.e. crudely, violence must be a learned/maladaptive response to one's environment or external causes.
It's not always so.

His environment as well as Charles Bronson himself (now Charles Salvador) do not pinpoint or blame contributing factors/events, from childhood or otherwise, for his extreme violent tendencies. According to Salvador, he was simply born with a 'loose screw' that inexplicably flips a switch in his brain, turning him into a violent monster at any moment, whether provoked or not. His art clearly expresses this.
I do think Refn does a good job at exploring Bronson/Salvador's sanity rather than provide an explanation for something which, as of yet, has not been satisfactorily explained.

Ignorance is bliss... 'til it posts on the Internet, then, it's annoying.