Very Cool!!!

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Built around a once-in-a-lifetime bravura performance by Tom Hardy, "Bronson" boldly attempts to relate the story of a man who can't be understood: Michael Peterson a.k.a. Charlie Bronson – the United Kingdom's most notorious prisoner."Bronson" excels on the synchronicity of Hardy and director Nicolas Winding Refn (who also co-writes with Brock Norman Brock). These are two bold, distinctive artists who do not apologize for the abrasiveness of their particular creative leanings. Although a Bronson biopic would look good to most movie-goers on paper, their approach extends well beyond the box. It won't click with viewers who like more traditional storytelling, but their narrative and aesthetic choices are most fitting for a man who prides himself on not being able to be defined by others.The Peterson/Bronson character narrates this story as if giving a theatre monologue. In fact, there are a number of expository scenes that take place in a proscenium theater in which a dapper Bronson "performs" for an audience of rich and fancy types. This choice embraces the inherent theatricality of Bronson's behavior and while making the critical point that Bronson had and has a large degree of self-awareness. For a man who has spent most of his life in solitary confinement, it also makes sense that he might imagine his life through this lens of having an audience.The script follows chronological order by and large, but not in any explicit way or by using any clear cues. This echoes the unusual way that time passes – one must imagine – for Bronson. Time was never something he cared about, since he showed little desire to get released, and its passage has only been marked by his violent outbursts and transfers from one prison to the next.The notorious figure and enigma that is Bronson (now apparently named Charles Salvador after his love for Salvador Dali) is the film's focal point. Refn attempts to unlock whatever pieces of Bronson's psyche that he can, but from the angle that he too, like us, knows practically nothing about what makes this man tick. That places the real challenge on the monstrously large shoulders of Hardy. One understands exactly why this film launched Hardy's career, and that if the part had come his way during his rise to fame rather than being its cause, he would've easily been nominated for an Oscar if not the winner.Hardy captures the unpredictable yet in many ways predictable nature of Bronson, the way he is driven and calculated yet subservient to his desire for violence. We know exactly what he's capable of after a few scenes of throwing fists at prison guards, yet it doesn't make understanding why it happens any easier. Hardy magnifies that effect by shouting at times when we don't expect it – like really powerful shouting – and giving the character and his performance tremendous physicality.In a story full of violence and brutality, Refn makes a daring choice to ironically use classical pieces and Golden Age Hollywood- sounding music over many of the most graphic scenes. Yet he also uses electronic music too. Nothing is reminiscent of the time period depicted on screen. This could have easily been a dark, gritty and horrifying film accentuated by dark and gritty music, but the role of violence in Bronson's life is more complicated than "violence is awful." Music is a tool that Refn uses to alter our thinking around this person. Without it, we'd just be disturbed and bothered by this animalistic man we don't understand. Refn is giving us the tools to consider this man and his story with different perspectives."Bronson" never settles within us or gives us any satisfaction of epiphany. Instead, we are to take great joy in wrestling with this man (not literally, thank goodness) and wrestling with this film. That's a little antithetical to what most movies about an enigmatic figure attempt to do, but given the unbelievable nature of Charlie Bronson, it's fitting that Refn intentionally avoids that style of storytelling and opts for something enigmatic in and of itself.~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

"Bronson" tells the violent and shocking story of Michael Peterson (who nicknamed himself Charles Bronson, after the famous action movie star), who has been hailed as Britain's most infamous and notorious prisoner. This film depiction of his life showcases violence at its most barbaric, completely deglamorizing it to a point of horrific brutality that is at times extremely difficult to watch. One critic hailed this film to the the "Clockwork Orange" for the 21st century, which I can certainly agree with. Tonally and stylistically, this film certainly does borrow quite a bit from the Kubrick classic, blending elements of surrealism and humor with terrifying violence and haunting narration from the film's vicious anti hero.While this is a brutal film, it is at times a surprisingly beautiful film. Nicolas Winding Refn is a master of visuals, and the musical score of this film is absolutely superb. Not to mention, Tom Hardy's performance as Bronson is spine chilling, funny, and brilliant!This is a compelling and sickening little movie that will both fascinate and horrify.

I'm not usually a fan of British films, but it's definitely one of the best British films I've seen. Strong performances, very dark, extremely violent, dangerous, but brilliant film. Bronson (2008) is based on true story about Charlie Bronson and his dangerous life.I thought Tom Hardy did incredibly amazing job for this film, he gave one of his best performance ever, and definitely in my top 5 movie performances of the year. He showed how acting is really done in this film.I gave it a 10 out of 10. If you haven't seen it, you'll love it if you are a fan of A Clockwork Orange (1971).

At first it was only the poster of this movie that captured my attention, browsing Tom Hardy's filmography, and I watched the trailer online. That same night I couldn't help searching for the movie online and watching the whole thing on my mobile phone. There was not one moment through the movie that I felt distracted or bored, to the contrary of that I did not want to blink so that I wouldn't miss one split of a second of Tom Hardy as Charlie Bronson. The movie did not try to give reasons or justifications of why Charlie Bronson was so self destructive, enjoyed violence and pain and preferred solitary confinement over freedom.There is no logic that you can wrap your head around watching Charlie Bronson portrayed by Tom Hardy, going to prison for armed robbery on a post office, receiving 7 years in prison and ends up being locked away for 34 years, 30 of which are in solitary confinement. You certainly will not find a rational explanation why he would suddenly take a hostage just so that he would start a confrontation with the guards, then strips naked and wait for them to come so that he would beat them up and eventually ends up overpowered, bleeding and in agony.The theatrical comic way which the director adopts in filming this movie helps to lighten the violence and brutality of Bronson yet it also helps bring to life his true nature and a depiction of what was going through his mind. I must say, I found myself laughing with confusion as Bronson prepares to torture these poor guards yet once again. Tom Hardy definitely put his heart and soul into this character, going all the way to stripping naked (full frontal), ramming himself naked into a dozen prison guards, sparing no small details to depict the real raw existence of Charlie Bronson. In the end you don't really know how to feel about Bronson, as he never committed murder though he had ample opportunities to do so which would imply that he might not be as evil as one would expect, at the same time his unexplained and un-triggered incline to violence wins your empathy as well as fear of him.