Bronson (2008)
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Reviews Counted: 76
Fresh: 59 | Rotten: 17
Undeniably gripping, Bronson forces the viewer to make some hard decisions about where the line between art and exploitation lies.
Average Rating: 6.4/10
Critic Reviews: 23
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 7
Undeniably gripping, Bronson forces the viewer to make some hard decisions about where the line between art and exploitation lies.
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Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 12,886
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Movie Info
The notorious life of the U.K.'s "most violent prisoner" serves as the subject of Pusher Trilogy director Nicolas Winding Refn's brutal biopic. Born Michael Peterson but later renamed by his fight promoter, Charles Bronson's sole ambition in life was to become famous. Surmising that the fastest means of accomplishing his goal with such limited opportunities was to cultivate a stylized persona as a hardened criminal, the ambitious do-badder embraced a desperate existence of extreme savagery. But
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Cast
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Tom Hardy
Michael Peterson/Charle... -
Hugh Ross
Uncle Jack -
Juliet Oldfield
Alison -
Jonny Phillips
Prison Governor -
James Lance
Art Teacher -
Amanda Burton
Michael Peterson's Moth... -
Matt King
Paul Daniels (Boxing Pr... -
Kelly Adams
Irène, Irčne, Ir?ne
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All Critics (79) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (60) | Rotten (17) | DVD (2)
This is psychotic behavior as performance art, and Hardy makes it irresistible.
Top CriticPart literate black comedy, part surrealistic character study, part horror movie, Bronson is a sophisticated confection, rich and dark, sprinkled with bitter little jokes.
Itâ(TM)s a meditation on the art of rage -- an action painting passing itself off as an action movie.
"Nuffin' wonky about my upbringing," Bronson says, early on. Nothing wonky about Hardy's performance, either.
A pointless exercise in morbidity.
Bronson is one of those "based on a true story" dramatizations where the theatrically staged drama only gets in the way of the more interesting truth.
...an anthropological study in human viciousness, like a nature film done by Stanley Kubrick.
full review at Movies for the Masses
Britain's Got Talent never looked so good.
Bronson doesn't have much to say, but it's a very fun exercise in bad behavior that's neither glamorized nor bemoaned.
It's content to be a kind of freak-show character study of a man who embraces anarchy, not for its own sake but for the fame and adrenaline that it brings him.
For such a potentially exciting subject matter, Bronson hits way too many lulls.
In the end, "Bronson" is a beautiful, intense film about a man that may or may not be insane, based on events that might actually have occurred in his life.
Director and co-writer Nicolas Winding Refn strives mightily to match his star crescendo for crescendo, which can be exhausting. But the film is nimble and spare enough to absorb most of the director's outré inspirations.
Done differently, the cat-and-mouse brawling could get tiresome, but Tom Hardy as Bronson -- with his shaved head, handlebar moustache, and glittering eyes -- is mesmerizing.
If you want to spend two hours with a psychopath who loves nothing more than getting naked and brawling with prison guards, this is for you. I prefer vintage Kurosawa.
A figure this luridly fascinating, a personality this ludicrously outsized, warrants something more than your typical biopic.
Audience Reviews for Bronson
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Michael Peterson/Charles Bronson: Now hang on to your feelings. Alright? 'Cause it's going to get fucking hairy.
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- Michael Peterson/Charles Bronson: You don't want to be trapped inside with me sunshine. Inside, I'm somebody nobody wants to fuck with do you understand? I am Charlie Bronson, I am Britain's most violent prisoner.
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- Michael Peterson/Charles Bronson: Come on! Come on you FUCKING cunts!
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- Michael Peterson/Charles Bronson: [singing] Please, release me, oh let me go! 'Cause I don't love you anymore!
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- Michael Peterson/Charles Bronson: Alright...I've got a librarian in here and he's in a lot of trouble.
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- Michael Peterson/Charles Bronson: I said on my ass, not in my ass you homo!
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