Home
Bronson

Page

Bronson

Summary
How to watch
News & features

❚ We may earn commission from links on this page. Our editorial is always independent (learn more).

Watch trailer

02:22

Bronson

Name: Bronson
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Genre: Documentary, Drama, Crime/detective, Action
Released: 2008
Duration: 1 h 28 min
Cast: Tom Hardy, Matt King, Terry Stone, Amanda Burton, Hugh Ross

Save

Documentary
Drama

2008
Nicolas Winding Refn
88 mins
18

Summary

Biographical drama starring Tom Hardy as Charles Bronson (born Michael Peterson), a bare-knuckle boxer who was jailed in 1974 for armed robbery and went on to become one of the UK's most notorious prisoners.

IMDB

Review

A star rating of 3 out of 5.

Damon Wise

This eccentric and often unsavoury biopic charts the rise to infamy of a small-time Luton crook who changed his name and bulked his frame in the mid-1980s to become Britain's most violent and feared prisoner. Tom Hardy gives a stunning performance as moustached reprobate Charles Bronson, who has spent two-thirds of his life in jail, and most of that in solitary confinement. As there's little in the way of biographical fact to contend with, director Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) attempts instead to poke around in his subject's psyche. Scenes from Bronson's life are presented as hallucinatory, stylised episodes that owe a great debt to Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, not just in their look but also through their jarring use of classical music. The violence may be too extreme and message too non-judgemental for mainstream viewers, but Hardy does an admirable job of making this monster human, which he achieves with surprising wit and a visceral, attention-grabbing passion.

imdb-square

7.0/10

How to watch

Loading

Streaming

Credits

Cast

rolenameCharles Bronson / Michael Peterson Tom HardyPaul DanielsMatt KingNurseTerry StoneCharlie's mumAmanda BurtonUncle JackHugh RossIreneKelly AdamsBrianEdward Bennett-ColesJohn WhiteJoe TuckerPhilJames LancePrison governorJonathan PhillipsAlisonJuliet Oldfield