Film Review - Bronson

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2008 - Spoiler alerts If I mention the name Michael Patterson, you would probably ask who? If I mention Charles Bronson, you are likely to think of the Hollywood actor from The Dirty Dozen, Death Wish and other big Action movies. That is why Patterson changed his name to Charles Bronson, in keeping with his hard man image - Patterson is one of Britain's most notorious criminals. The film biography offers a brilliant central performance by Tom Hardy as Bronson, which goes a long way from glorifying violence and thuggery. Bronson comes across as a man effectively wasting his life away for nothing. Already violent at school, (hitting one terrified teacher with a wooden desk) Patterson was eventually arrested in 1974 for an armed robbery on a British post office that netted him just a meagre amount of money. He was sentenced to seven years and everyone expected that with good behaviour he would be out within four years. Bronson thrived on prison, seeing its confinements, meagre diets, violence and petty regulations as giving him a hotel existence. He fought guards and other inmates so much that he ended up extending his time for bad behaviour, serving fourteen years - twice his original sentence. His masochistic lifestyle led the state to try to write him off as criminally insane, but after he almost killed a convicted child molester and started a major riot at Broadmoor, he was remarkably, thrown out to freedom. He lasted just over two months during which he worked as a street fighter, and even fought Rottweilers for entertainment. Back inside and serving more time in solitary than any other criminal in British history, Patterson was offered a lifeline when it was discovered that he has considerable skills as an artist. This came to an end when he took his prison art teacher hostage to draw the guards in for another pointless fight against the system. Hardy plays Bronson very stylistically as a stage actor, trying to promote his life to an imaginary audience as if it is something to be proud of, only to emerge as utterly pathetic and pitiful. Bronson himself (still inside despite his own books and the movie - bio) appreciates the movie, which is the best anti-violence violent movie ever. It is a study of a man who has squandered a life rich in opportunity and talent, for absolutely nothing. Arthur Chappell