Are they worthy of the accolades or should they be sent down...
The Accused:
TOM HARDY
Prior to this turning point in Hardy's career he does have quite an extensive list of credits, most notably amongst them roles in Black Hawk Down and Layer Cake. The one that sticks out though is the television show Band of Brothers; which also saw many other early appearances from future stars such as James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. This is such a good miniseries and fully deserves your attention.
Hardy also appeared as Handsome Bob in Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla. While I love most of Ritchie's output I am not enamoured with this one. Handsome Bob is another tough guy roll but he is secretly gay, allowing Hardy to show a bit more of his acting ability than just being the man with muscles.
In 2010 Hardy would have his first collaboration with Christopher Nolan as Eames in the excellent, mind bending, sci-fi drama Inception. If Bronson was a turning point for him in his native England, Inception could well be considered the starting point of a wider audience taking note of this new exciting English talent.
The following year he would once again show off his impressive physique in Warrior. This is a surprisingly compelling story about two brothers and their strained relationship with one another as well as their family. Both Hardy and Joel Edgerton are terrific as the duelling brothers and you really get to the emotional core of both characters.
He also appeared in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy alongside Gary Oldman. While Hardy is again in good form; this movie belongs solely to Oldman. The portrayal of espionage intrigue without having to resort to Jason Bourne style fighting is captivating. The film performed admirably for an old time, style thriller and I would welcome another entry from George Smiley. Proof, if any was needed, that you don't have to rely on big bangs to gather an audience and that good storytelling can simply be enough.
One blemish on Hardy's CV is This Means War a romantic comedy misstep starring alongside Chris Pine and Reese Witherspoon. There is nothing and I mean nothing to recommend this movie. The characters share no chemistry, the jokes are poor and the story is a mess - avoid at all costs!
Nolan came calling again when he cast Hardy as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. Following on from Heath Ledger's highly praised portrayal of the Joker; playing Batman's next nemesis was always going to be a tough act to follow. Having Bane sound like he was talking into the bottom of a coffee cup definitely doesn't help. Some people don't find this annoying; but I find it distracting from what is a decent performance. Overall it is entertaining, even though it definitely has a lot of flaws, particularly with the script.
The Drop saw Hardy starring alongside the late, great James Gandolfini in his final role. This crime caper is a little seen gem. Both Gandolfini and Hardy; as the quiet, reserved Bob, make this worth seeing as they tackle Chechen mobsters. Sticking with a Russian theme; Hardy would go on to appear in Child 44, reuniting with Oldman. This interesting story is sadly letdown by everyone putting on their best Russian accents which distracts you from fully immersing yourself into the story.
When Charlize Theron was in the dock I briefly mentioned her appearance in Mad Max: Fury Road and I will do the same here for Tom Hardy as I will be interrogating that film soon. What I will say about Hardy is that he did such a good job that not many people were clamouring for Mel Gibson after viewing the end product.
2015 also saw Hardy appear in two roles in the same movie as the infamous Kray brothers in the gangster flick Legend. I can't imagine the logistics that allowed them to pull this off. Hardy would have to get into character, not once, but twice for each scene he appears onscreen and many of those he is sharing with himself. He does remarkably well as both Ronnie and Reggie. However he is let down by a subpar film that over glamorises the story of the Kray's and their London firm.
The Revenant would see Hardy once again appearing alongside Leonardo DiCaprio as the antagonist John Fitzgerald. Once more we have a hard to decipher accent amongst Hardy's portrayal of this cold-hearted character. I did in fact find Fitzgerald to be quite reasonable in his assessment of the groups, and Hugh Glass's situation. The filmmaker's use a bit of poetic licence to turn him into a killer to help the audience understand the need for revenge that Glass wants to bring upon Fitzgerald. They must have thought the more factual story of survival against the odds wouldn't have been as compelling viewing; although I tend to disagree.
One final role I must mention is Hardy as Alfie Solomons on the television series Peaky Blinders. Hardy steals every scene he is in portraying this Jewish gangster; no small feat alongside Cillian Murphy's own powerful depiction of Tommy Shelby. He also provides some much needed humour without losing any of the underlying menace that his character oozes.
On the horizon will be Hardy's third collaboration with Christopher Nolan in Dunkirk which is due for release in 2017. I am looking forward to this one as it has been sometime since we had an epic World War II film released.
He might not always be the easiest person to understand onscreen but it is very rare that he performs badly. Tom Hardy is most definitely allowed to mumble his way out of the dock.
Splitting a portion of this persons back catalogue into what I would "go to" and what I would choose to "avoid"; given the choices I would categorise this entertainers output as thus...
The Scorcher's:
The Torture's:
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