History Film / Locke

-->'''Locke:''' Donal, what does it say on the whiteboard?
-->'''Donal:''' On the... It says C6.
-->'''Locke:''' What does it say on every piece of paperwork and on every sign-off sheet?
-->'''Donal:''' It says C6.
-->'''Locke:''' It says C6. And you know why? Because, eventually, when my building is complete, it will be 55 floors high! It will weigh 2,223,000 metric tons! Okay? My building will alter the water table and squeeze granite. It will be visible from 20 miles away. At sunset, it will cast a shadow probably a mile long. Now, if the concrete at the base of my building is not right, if it slips half an inch, cracks appear. Right? If cracks appear, then they will grow and grow, won't they? And the whole thing will collapse!
-->'''Donal:''' Ivan, look...
-->'''Locke:''' ''(shouting)'' You make one mistake, Donal, ''one little fucking mistake'', and the whole world comes crashing down around you! Do you understand? ''(calmly)'' So you tell Stafford, C6.
* ObliviousGuiltSlinging: When Donal gets Stefan and his crew to help with the job, Stefan shouts out that Ivan Locke is the best man in England. You can see how hard this hits Ivan.

[[caption-width-right:214: [[TheDeterminator Some people are just that driven]].]]

''Locke'' is a 2013 British drama film written and directed by Steven Knight (of ''Film/DirtyPrettyThings'' and ''Film/EasternPromises'' fame) starring Creator/TomHardy. The film is notable for its gimmick in that it takes place entirely within the automobile of the main character as he travels from Birmingham to London and spends most of the time on the phone.

Ivan Locke is a construction foreman who was scheduled to oversee the pouring of a concrete foundation for a new skyscraper. Instead, he has chosen to drive to London to attend the birth of his bastard child, the result of a one-night stand. Along the drive, he makes a series of calls to manage the wreckage this decision has caused in his personal and professional lives.

* BeingGoodSucks: Locke does the right thing by choosing to be there for his bastard child [[spoiler: ....but it's at the expense of his professional and personal life. By the end of the film, they're utterly wrecked]].
* BerserkButton: The only time Locke loses his temper while on the phone is when Donal questions what mix they need on the concrete.
-->'''Donal:''' I just got off the phone with the plant in Stafford, and they said they know that it's a C6 mix, but how far towards C5 can it go? In other words, if one truck had some C5, how bad would that be taken? ''[silence]'' Are you still there?
-->'''Locke:''' Donal, what does it say on the whiteboard?
-->'''Donal:''' On the... It says C6.
-->'''Locke:''' What does it say on every piece of paperwork and on every sign-off sheet?
-->'''Donal:''' It says C6.
-->'''Locke:''' It says C6. And you know why? Because, eventually, when my building is complete, it will be 55 floors high! It will weigh 2,223,000 metric tons! Okay? My building will alter the water table and squeeze granite. It will be visible from 20 miles away. At sunset, it will cast a shadow probably a mile long. Now, if the concrete at the base of my building is not right, if it slips half an inch, cracks appear. Right? If cracks appear, then they will grow and grow, won't they? And the whole thing will collapse!
-->'''Donal:''' Ivan, look...
-->'''Locke:''' ''(shouting)'' You make one mistake, Donal, ''one little fucking mistake'', and the whole world comes crashing down around you! Do you understand? ''(calmly)'' So you tell Stafford, C6.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Locke has lost his job and his wife intends to divorce him, but his sons still love him, his new child has been delivered safely, he's gotten that goddamn concrete pour supervised successfully, and he's still convinced that he's doing the right thing]].

* CharacterTitle: Ivan claims that he has repaired the family name Locke by making the principled decision to be there for his bastard child, unlike his wayward father.
* TheDeterminator: Ivan Locke. He vows to be there for the birth of his bastard child ''and'' complete the concrete job ''and still'' fix things with his wife even when the obstacles stack up against his favor.
* DisappearedDad: Ivan's father wasn't around for his childhood. Ivan's primary motivation to drop everything and attend the birth is to avoid the mistake his father made.

--> '''Ivan Locke:''' Well hear this, Gareth. [[spoiler: When I left the site just over two hours ago, I had a job, a wife, a home. And now I have none of those things. I have none of those things left. I just have myself and the car that I'm in. And I'm just driving and that's it.]]

* NotSoStoic: Ivan maintains a calm and even-toned voice while on the phone, but he's shown weeping during some calls and suddenly exploding with rage when not on the phone.

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Locke is supposed to be a Welsh character; however, Hardy's accent practically wanders around the entire British Isles (commencing in South Wales, to be fair). [[CriticalResearchFailure This was due to the fact that the man Hardy based Locke's Welsh accent on was not, in fact, Welsh]]. Hardy didn't learn this fact until shortly before the movie was released, and at that point it was too late to do anything to fix it.

''Locke'' is a 2013 British drama film written and directed by Stephen Knight (of ''Film/DirtyPrettyThings'' and ''Film/EasternPromises'' fame) starring Creator/TomHardy. The film is notable for its gimmick in that it takes place entirely within the automobile of the main character as he travels from Birmingham to London and spends most of the time on the phone.

* WorldOfCardboardSpeech:
--> '''Ivan Locke:''' Well hear this, Gareth. [[spoiler: When I left the site just over two hours ago, I had a job, a wife, a home. And now I have none of those things. I have none of those things left. I just have myself and the car that I'm in. And I'm just driving and that's it.]]

-->'''Locke:''' You make one mistake, Donal, ''one little fucking mistake'', and the whole world comes crashing down around you! Do you understand? So you tell Stafford, C6.

-->'''Locke:''' You make one mistake, Donal, ONE LITTLE FUCKING MISTAKE, and the whole world comes crashing down around you! Do you understand? So you tell Stafford, C6.

-->'''Locke:''' You make one mistake, Donal, one little fucking mistake, and the whole world comes crashing down around you! Do you understand? So you tell Stafford, C6.

* YourCheatingHeart: Locke had a one-night stand with a woman he is not particularly attracted to and does not particularly like. He claims he was simply drunk, in a good mood, and felt sorry for her.

-->'''Locke:''' You make one mistake, Donal, one little f***ing mistake, and the whole world comes crashing down around you! Do you understand? So you tell Stafford, C6.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Locke has lost his job and his wife intends to divorce him, but his sons still love him, his new child has been delivered safely, and he's still convinced that he's doing the right thing]].

* PerfectHealth: Tom Hardy's real-life cold during filming caused an inadvertent aversion to this trope.

* InsistentTerminology: Ivan seems to find it important to be precise in the way he phrases things. The hospital staff inquire several times about Ivan's relation to Bethan, asking if he is her partner/next of kin/etc. Each time, he firmly corrects them that he is the child's father.
** Also, when Gareth talks about Ivan's ten years of service, Ivan repeatedly corrects him that it's nine years. A focus on honesty and precision seems to be a character trait of his (except for that one thing...)

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never actually find out [[spoiler:if the hugely ambitious concrete pour goes off successfully, a matter of considerable interest to Locke. Possibly this is because, in the light of his marriage crumbling and child being born, he's no longer worried about it, although at the end of the film he's still determined not to give up control of the project.]]

* TheAce: The people Locke talks to repeatedly emphasize that he's the best construction manager they've ever worked with, and always has everything perfectly under control. This makes it all the more dramatic when everything falls apart for him.

'''Donal:''' I just got off the phone with the plant in Stafford, and they said they know that it's a C6 mix, but how far towards C5 can it go? In other words, if one truck had some C5, how bad would that be taken? ''[silence]'' Are you still there?
'''Locke:''' Donal, what does it say on the whiteboard?
'''Donal:''' On the... It says C6.
'''Locke:''' What does it say on every piece of paperwork and on every sign-off sheet?
'''Donal:''' It says C6.
'''Locke:''' It says C6. And you know why? Because, eventually, when my building is complete, it will be 55 floors high! It will weigh 2,223,000 metric tons! Okay? My building will alter the water table and squeeze granite. It will be visible from 20 miles away. At sunset, it will cast a shadow probably a mile long. Now, if the concrete at the base of my building is not right, if it slips half an inch, cracks appear. Right? If cracks appear, then they will grow and grow, won't they? And the whole thing will collapse!
'''Donal:''' Ivan, look...
'''Locke:''' You make one mistake, Donal, one little f***ing mistake, and the whole world comes crashing down around you! Do you understand? So you tell Stafford, C6.

* BerserkButton: The only time Locke loses his temper while on the phone is when Donal forgets to check to what percentage the concrete has been mixed.

* BerserkButton: The only time he loses his temper while on the phone is when Donal forgets to check to what percentage the concrete has been mixed.

* FreudianExcuse: Inverted. Ivan's dad was a complete deadbeat (it's implied that Ivan didn't met him until he was 23), and Ivan is determined not to be like him. That's a major part of his motivation for risking his marriage and career to be there for his unplanned baby.

* InnocentShaming: When Donal gets Stefan and his crew to help with the job, Stefan shouts out that Ivan Locke is the best man in England. Locke is clearly hit by that incidental compliment.

** Also, when Gareth talks about Ivan's ten years of service, Ivan repeatedly corrects him that it's nine years. A focus on honesty and precision seems to be a character trait of his.

* MarriedToTheJob: In a moment of bitterness, Ivan's wife tells him that he was more in love with his buildings than her.

* FreudianExcuse: Inverted. Ivan's dad was a complete deadbeat (it's implied that Ivan never met him until he was 23), and Ivan is determined not to be like him. That's a major part of his motivation for risking his marriage and career to be there for his unplanned baby.