“I’VE NEVER BEEN NORMAL. BEING LOCKED UP IS MAKING IT WORSE.” - PAXTON (CHIWETEL EJIOFOR)
Storyline
Married couple, Paxton (Chiwetel Ejiofor; Doctor Stage, 12 Years a Slave) and Linda (Anne Hathaway; The Intern, The Dark Knight Rises), are going a little stir-crazy quarantined to their home in London during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The tough times of the pandemic takes a toll on their relationship while Paxton struggles to get work as a delivery driver and Linda is forced to relay terrible news to her co-workers. Tensions are high and emotions are all over the place, what could possibly get them out of this funk? How about a heist?
Fate have it, Paxton lands a job, under a fake name, as a delivery driver that happens to be for the closing of a Harrod’s (a ritzy department store famous across the pond) location being led by Linda. And what just happens to be at Harrod’s on that day and is to be transported by Paxton and Linda? A $3 million diamond and it’s glass copy; one to be sent to the vault for safe keeping and the other to be destroyed. Can an average couple on the brink of ending things get away with the heist of a lifetime during a global pandemic?
One Nerd’s Thoughts
Locked Down (2021) was, in my opinion, well done for a production done and set in times of a global pandemic. There is a good balance of dark humor and emotion between Ejiofor and Hathaway. The dark humor actually pushes the line a little bit before getting just too dark….at least early on in the movie, but the movie lightens up as it progresses. This movie is described as a romantic-comedy heist movie and it is just that. However, it doesn’t have the same kind of “corny, feel-good romance” you would expect when you first think about a romantic-comedy.
I thought the pacing of the movie was a tad on the slow side in the beginning with a number of areas a little stretched out or provide little value to building the relationship between the characters and the viewer. Ejiofor and Hathaway do a great job at making their characters very relatable almost instantly bring the viewer in for the ride without really needing some of the other small characters.
ONE NERD’S RATING: 7/10
If you’re looking for something that hits some truth about the pandemic and makes some fun out of it as well, this could be a movie you enjoy.
