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Movies / Upcoming / Bronson
Bronson

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Bronson (2009)

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Reviews Counted:64

Fresh:50

Rotten:14

Average Rating:6.6/10

Consensus: Undeniably gripping, Bronson forces the viewer to make some hard decisions about where the line between art and exploitation lies.

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: In 1974, a hot-headed 19 year old named Michael Peterson decided he wanted to make a name for himself and so, with a homemade sawn-off shotgun and a head full of dreams he attempted to rob a post... In 1974, a hot-headed 19 year old named Michael Peterson decided he wanted to make a name for himself and so, with a homemade sawn-off shotgun and a head full of dreams he attempted to rob a post office. Swiftly apprehended and originally sentenced to 7 years in jail, Peterson has subsequently been behind bars for 34 years, 30 of which have been spent in solitary confinement. During that time, Michael Petersen, the boy, faded away and 'Charles Bronson,' his superstar alter ego, took center stage...

With the same brutal yet operatic flair he brought to his previous films, "The Pusher Trilogy, " director Nicholas Winding Refn gets inside the mind of Bronson, and delivers not only a portrait of an artist bereft of an outlet, but also a scathing indictment of celebrity culture.

Tom Hardy plays the title character with disturbing intensity who physically transformed himself for the role. Hardy said, "The opportunity to play such a complex and tormented real-life character was a unique challenge for me, and one that required a great level of commitment and understanding."

Director Nicolas Winding Refn says about his new film, "It is Bronson's unending thirst for celebrity that has kept in prison for so long. And it was this particular aspect of his personality that we tried to capture in the film."

The screenplay was written by Brock Norman Brock (Dogging: A Love Story) and Nicolas Winding Refn. BRONSON is produced by Rupert Preston (Faintheart, Dirty Sanchez: The Movie) and Daniel Hansford and executive produced by Allan Niblo, James Richardson, Paul Martin and Nick Love.--© Magnolia Pictures [More]

Starring: Tom Hardy, Hugh Ross, Juliet Oldfield, Jonny Philips

Starring: Tom Hardy, Hugh Ross, Juliet Oldfield, Jonny Philips, James Lance, Amanda Burton, Matt King, Kelly Adams

Director: Nicholas Winding Refn

Director: Nicholas Winding Refn
Screenwriter: Nicholas Winding Refn, Brock Norman Smith
Producer: Danny Hansford, Rupert Preston
Studio: Magnolia Pictures

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Reviews for Bronson

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
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Like a cross between A Clockwork Orange and an extended music video...

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
08/07/09
Garry Maddox
Garry Maddox
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Tom Hardy is just outstanding, actually all the performances are pitch perfect for the material. It’s a class act this film, it just will not appeal to audiences who don’t want to be confronted with violence when they go to the movies.

Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment Comment
08/05/09
Margaret Pomeranz
Margaret Pomeranz
At the Movies (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It is a mesmerising performance from Tom Hardy. But as a study of this man, it didn't interest me at all. I thought it was rather facile.

Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment Comment
08/05/09
David Stratton
David Stratton
At the Movies (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Winding Refn has created a gripping tale of the institutionalised madness of this violent criminal who relishes in his new found alter ego.

Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | comment Comment
08/04/09
Julian Wood
Julian Wood
FILMINK (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Gripping and visceral, ugly and beautiful, terrible and haunting, Bronson is quite brilliant.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
07/29/09
Andrew L. Urban
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Director and co-writer Nicolas Winding Refn strives mightily to match his star crescendo for crescendo, which can be exhausting. But the film is nimble and spare enough to absorb most of the director's outré inspirations.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
11/24/09
Shawn Levy
Shawn Levy
Oregonian

It’s a meditation on the art of rage -- an action painting passing itself off as an action movie.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
11/24/09
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe

Done differently, the cat-and-mouse brawling could get tiresome, but Tom Hardy as Bronson -- with his shaved head, handlebar moustache, and glittering eyes -- is mesmerizing.

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
11/19/09
Shaula Clark
Shaula Clark
Boston Phoenix

If you want to spend two hours with a psychopath who loves nothing more than getting naked and brawling with prison guards, this is for you. I prefer vintage Kurosawa.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
11/13/09
Louis Proyect
Louis Proyect
rec.arts.movies.reviews

A figure this luridly fascinating, a personality this ludicrously outsized, warrants something more than your typical biopic.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
11/13/09
Kimberly Jones
Kimberly Jones
Austin Chronicle

A stylized portrait of a criminal famous in his native Britain as perhaps the most violent man in Her Majesty's prison system, Bronson serves primarily as a showcase for Tom Hardy's undeniably brilliant performance.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
11/13/09
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Strap yourself in for a jaw-dropping performance from Tom Hardy as he completely inhabits the role of Britain's most notorious prisoner in this highly stylised piece of mischievous cinematic vaudeville.

Full Review Source: Screenwize | comment Comment
11/12/09
Simon Weaving
Simon Weaving
Screenwize

...not a great film but garners a strong performance from its star [Tom Hardy].

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
11/09/09
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Nicolas Winding Refn ("The Pusher" trilogy) takes an experimental approach to the biopic, letting his subject guide the way through his life so far as if it were a piece of performance art.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
11/09/09
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Hardy's range is impressive, and he makes Refn's latest an arresting spectacle, if not a particularly enlightening one.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
11/08/09
Rossiter Drake
Rossiter Drake
San Francisco Examiner
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
11/06/09
Entertainment Weekly

“Nuffin’ wonky about my upbringing,” Bronson says, early on. Nothing wonky about Hardy’s performance, either.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
11/05/09
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune

[Tom Hardy gives] one of the best performances of the year, maybe. It is certainly one of the most committed.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
11/04/09
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

Charles Bronson seems like a bit of a sweetheart, when he's not trying to gouge someone's eyes out.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
10/30/09
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

A pointless exercise in morbidity.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment 1 Comment
10/30/09
Stephen Farber
Stephen Farber
Hollywood Reporter
 
 
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