Locked Down
Even while still being in the midst of a crushing, and still very distressing, global pandemic, it hasn’t taken long for studios to begin capitalising on those COVID-focused scripts. While Locked Down certainly does not invoke the same nasty gut-reaction that last year’s Songbird produced, it still makes for a film that seems so detached from the realities of COVID that it merely detracts from an otherwise decently enjoyable film.
Set in the very early stages of the harsh UK-wide restrictions, Locked Down already finds itself fighting an uphill battle as it brings back a time that, for many, was a devastatingly dark period. It may be hyperbolic to condemn the film for this COVID focus, especially as there will be a gap for these tales to find their inevitable place in the cinematic cannon once the realities of the pandemic can be more easily reflected upon. Yet, Locked Down, much like the unbearable NETFLIX special, Death To 2020, merely uses the pandemic as a backdrop for jokes that have already worn out, even less than a year from when they first began.
Pandemic aside, the script from Steven Knight is thankfully more akin to his equally claustrophobic Locke, rather than the disastrous insanity of Serenity. With the vast majority of the film falling on the shoulders of Hathaway and Ejiofor, tasked to deliver an engaging relationship which is seemingly past the point of no return, their break-up is haltered by the reality of a nation-wide lockdown. Hathaway and Ejiofor manage to step up to the task, offering performances that provide a great deal of believability, especially when the context of a pandemic, and the strain it created for many relationships, is considered. The relationship portrayed could have absolutely been tackled without the pandemic being used for the creation of the core drama, but the snappy dialogue and often dry humour from Ejiofor is enough to save the bloated two-hour runtime from being a total slog.
Another tragic resemblance to the aforementioned NETFLIX special is found within the extensive celebrity cameos. Like last year’s Host, Locked Down finds itself opting for a vast amount of video calls to convey the narrative with sees most of the first half of the film having various digital face-to-face conferences with whatever celebrity Director Doug Liman could nab for a quick moment. The film boasts a star-studded cast with Ben Stiller, Mindy Kaling and Stephen Merchant all appearing on the bill, yet their performances are so miniscule it does nothing more than provide a distraction from the core narrative. Ben Kingsley also appears, thankfully with a slightly more substantial role, with a performance that harkens back to the chaotic nature of his iconic Sexy Beast portrayal of a gangster, yet he is also dragged down by the waves of cameos that are merely eye-rolling.
Locked Down labels itself as a romantic comedy heist film, and while all the elements are there to suggest that the film is what it says it is, it ultimately all comes together to create a forgettable addition into the incoming wave of COVID films.
