Bronson 2009

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: "Nuffin' wonky about my upbringing," Bronson says, early on. Nothing wonky about Hardy's performance, either. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: A bit like Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange reimagined as a one-man stage show and stripped of any political implications. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: The "doing crime for fame" theme is more than a little played-out, but Hardy's so boisterous -- and Refn's filmmaking so dynamic -- that it's fairly easy to buy in to the inherent entertainment value of bloody fisticuffs. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: This is psychotic behavior as performance art, and Hardy makes it irresistible. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Ita(TM)s a meditation on the art of rage -- an action painting passing itself off as an action movie. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Refn presents this jolly madman in a variety of showbiz fantasies (wearing clown makeup, addressing a packed theater) to tease out the weird disjuncture between his penal isolation and his tabloid fame in the UK. Read more

Entertainment Weekly: Read more

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: Hardy chomps down on his once-in-a-career role with stunning ferocity and never lets go. He's extraordinary. Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: Tom Hardy proves more than ready for his close-up, cackling, snarling and head-butting his way through Pusher director Nicolas Winding Refn's mercifully unconventional biopic. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Refn tells his story in a gripping, genre-breaking way, introducing broad theatricality and surreal animation. In some scenes, Peterson delivers monologues in a clown's whiteface; in others, we're in an asylum as mad as its patients. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: Refn films much of the violence in slow motion, accompanied by classical music, which adds impact to the brutality. Read more

David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer: The tone is surreal, at once visceral and clinical, making Bronson an unsettling experience: savage, disturbing, and yet somehow fascinating. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The film does a good job of presenting in bloody detail the misdeeds of a misanthrope while italicizing his underdeveloped artistic abilities, but it is obtuse when it comes to character development. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The movie takes on a fearsome purity, refusing to find reasons, indifferent to motives, not even finding causes and effects. It is 92 minutes of rage, acted by Tom Hardy. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Tom Hardy is pure dynamite in the role, beefing up 35 pounds to play Britain's most notorious prisoner. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: Bronson is an explosive, theatrical, fourth-wall-busting project that will strike some viewers (like me) as prodigious and others as unbearably pretentious. Read more

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: He's spent 34 years behind bars, mostly in solitary. When the movie ends, you'll feel you've done hard time yourself. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Part literate black comedy, part surrealistic character study, part horror movie, Bronson is a sophisticated confection, rich and dark, sprinkled with bitter little jokes. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Bronson is one of those "based on a true story" dramatizations where the theatrically staged drama only gets in the way of the more interesting truth. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It's impossible to deny Hardy's astounding performance, which partially redeems the picture. Looking like a mad circus strongman, his moustache seeming to twirl all by itself, he's so fully immersed in his character, you fear for his sanity. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: Hardy delivers a committed if showy performance, but there are some awful smaller turns which smell dangerously of homophobia. The whole thing made me want to scrub my brain with Vim. Read more

John Anderson, Variety: Has "cult hit" written all over it. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: The kernel of an idea -- brutish antihero as irrepressible life force -- is trampled into dust by the showy Sturm und Drang of Refn's filmmaking. Read more