All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
In recent years, Netflix has dumped thousands of movies and T.V. shows into their Watch Instantly section. Pay a monthly fee, and they can be streamed on your computer, Blu-Ray player, Wii, etc. This is a wonderful thing. Problem: Quality control. With so many awful movies available—looking at you, Titanic II—you may feel like you’re sifting through the $1 VHS bin. So, your intrepid correspondents at GQ have taken it upon themselves to pore over the offerings and select one film, every Friday, from the impenetrable thicket that is Watch Instantly (and other sites). Get to streaming.
Charlie Bronson is Britain’s most famous prisoner, and arguably its most violent. Originally locked up for the armed robbery of a post-office in 1974, he’s spent all but a few months behind bars, the majority of that time in solitary confinement. Meanwhile, he’s gained folk hero status for giving the perpetual metaphorical middle finger to authority. He even wrote a book about how to remain fit while in confined spaces titled Solitary Fitness. This is fodder destined for the silver screen.
Cue one of the great international directors that Joe America doesn’t yet know but soon will: Nicolas Winding Refn. The Danish filmmaker created the excellent Pusher trilogy, and his next film Drive, starring beloved-by-GQ actor extraordinaire Ryan Gosling, hits theaters this September. When screened at Cannes this year, it received a standing ovation.
But we digress: In 2008, Refn broke through with Bronson, an artful biopic of the prisoner’s eventful and violent life, casting Tom Hardy as the titular character. Once again not sure who that is? You will. He stole last year’s Inception and will flatten the chisel of Christian Bale’s jaw as Bane in next year’s The Dark Knight Rises.
Hardy dominates nearly every scene of Bronson with a testosterone-fueled charisma and sociopathic lack of empathy. His performance is revelatory. Watch his malleable face change from ear-to-ear smile to terror-inducing glare in milliseconds. Hardy is so comfortable with the persona that he must have used Method acting to prepare; for the sake of his friends and loved ones, we hope he didn’t.
Refn’s stylistic directing is heavily indebted to Stanley Kubrick—lots of symmetrically ecuted shots in which actors stand still as classical music blares on the soundtrack. We’re dealt a healthy dose of David Lynch as well—smooth jazz juxtaposed against supremely odd goings-on. Refn even throws in a Terry Gilliam-esque animation sequence.
While his influences may be easily discernable, we get a glimpse of a visionary mind at work. And in Tom Hardy, Refn found a worthy comrade to unleash the chaos that the real-life Bronson embodies. Here are two greats elevating one another’s talents and hitting their respective strides. We can’t wait to see what they deliver next.
Other Recommendations:
1. Wall Street (Netflix)
Oliver Stone’s classic about criminals of a different breed. Starring Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko, whose sartorial decisions are pejoratively referenced in the pages of this magazine all of the time.
2. Funny Games (Netflix)
Michael Haneke’s 1998 original, not his shot-for-shot-and-somehow-still-shitty remake, about two well-to-do kids who kidnap a family and terrorize them for the fun of it. The darkest a dark comedy can possibly get.
3. We Own the Night (Crackle)
A crime drama set in gritty 1980s Brooklyn, the line-up—Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Robert Duvall—implies a better movie than you’ll get. But if you’re in a rut, these are four actors worth spending a couple of hours with.
Kate Winslet’s debut, this Peter Jackson-directed horror-drama is based on the real-life story of two teenage girls killing one of their mothers.
5. Thelma and Louise (Netflix)
"Manly" men may snicker at the suggestion, but I guarantee that they haven’t seen it. Mind you, it’s directed by Ridley Scott, who also made Alien and Blade Runner. You may be surprised by how much you relate.