Locked Down (film)

Locked Down is a 2021 American romantic comedy heist film directed by Doug Liman and written by Steven Knight. The film stars Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor, with Stephen Merchant, Mindy Kaling, Lucy Boynton, Mark Gatiss, Claes Bang, Ben Stiller, and Ben Kingsley in supporting roles.

Locked Down
Official release poster
Directed byDoug Liman
Produced by
  • P. J. van Sandwijk
  • Alison Winter
  • Michael Lesslie
Written bySteven Knight
Starring
Music byJohn Powell
CinematographyRemi Adefarasin
Edited bySaar Klein
Production
company
  • AGC Studios
  • Storyteller Productions
  • Hypnotic
  • Nebulastar
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • January 14, 2021 (2021-01-14) (United States)
Running time
118 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3 million[1]

Locked Down follows a couple who plan to execute a heist of a jewelry store. It was written, financed, and filmed entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was released in the United States on January 14, 2021 on HBO Max, and received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Paxton and Linda are a disgruntled married couple living in London amid the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Paxton is able to get only jobs as a delivery truck driver due to an assault arrest 10 years prior, and is upset how his life has turned out.

Due to stores being shut down there are a limited amount of drivers available for high-value deliveries, so Paxton’s boss reaches out and asks him to make runs under a false identity for him. Linda, who is a CEO at a fashion company, is tasked with clearing out inventory at a nearby Harrods department store. The pair soon realize their delivery schedules at the store overlap, and Paxton would not get past the security checkpoint Linda has set up.

Linda discloses that there is a £3 million diamond in the vault at Harrods that has been sold to an anonymous buyer, and the store keeps a duplicate on-location. She and Paxton agree to take the real diamond for themselves and send the fake one to the buyer in New York City, splitting the sale between themselves and the National Health Service.

Upon making it to the store, Linda and Paxton retrieve the diamond and swap it out with the fake. However they are confronted by Donald, a former co-worker of Linda's whom she had fired earlier in the week, who called the police after learning of Paxton's fake identity. She reveals their plan to him, and he agrees to lie for them.

Paxton and Linda, who originally planned to go their separate ways, decide to reevaluate their relationship after the COVID lockdown is extended by another two weeks.

Cast

Production

The film was announced in September 2020 as Lockdown, with Doug Liman directing a screenplay that Steven Knight had written that July over a dare. Anne Hathaway was announced to star, with filming set to start later that month in London. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ben Stiller, Lily James, Stephen Merchant, Dulé Hill, Jazmyn Simon, and Mark Gatiss were also announced as cast members.[2][3] In October 2020, Mindy Kaling, Ben Kingsley, and Lucy Boynton were added to the cast of the film, with Boynton replacing James.[4] Claes Bang, Sam Spruell and Frances Ruffelle were revealed as members of the cast in January 2021.[5]

The film was shot over the course of 18 days. Due to the limited resources and short production window the order of several scenes needed to be adjusted, forcing Hathaway and Ejiofor to tape their un-memorized lines around set. Despite initial reports it had a budget of $10 million, Liman insisted the actual cost of the film "started with a three."[1]

Release

The film was acquired by HBO Max in December 2020, with the intention for an early 2021 release.[6] It was released on January 14, 2021[7] and is the first film to have official new variant of 2019 Warner Bros. Pictures logo.[8]

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Locked Down holds an approval rating of 44% based on 79 reviews, with an average of 5.3/10. The website's critics consensus states, "Locked Down combines a heist caper, a relationship drama, and pandemic-era timeliness to produce a film that's frustratingly less than the sum of its parts."[9] According to Metacritic, which sampled 30 mainstream critics and calculated a weighted average score of 43 out of 100, the film received "mixed or average reviews".[10]

David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a B and wrote: "Yes, Locked Down is a heist movie, though one that's more concerned with 'stealing back the things that you feel life owes you' than it is with priceless jewels... COVID-19 serves as a fitting backdrop for an amiable romp about the freedoms we take for granted, and the confines that dictated our lives long before we were forced to spend them at home."[11] Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, writing that "in spite of the available chemistry and charisma from Hathaway and Ejiofor, Locked Down proves to be a bewildering mess."[12] Erik Nielsen of Little White Lies criticised the film and wrote: "a tone-deaf pandemic crime caper" and "affluent couple plot an audacious diamond heist in the Covid movie absolutely no one needed" scoring the film with a 1/5 rating. [13]

References
  1. Lee, Tom (January 13, 2021). "How Doug Liman Convinced Harrods to Let Him Shoot Locked Down in Its Vaults". Vulture. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  2. Fleming Jr, Mike (September 9, 2020). "Doug Liman To Helm 'Lockdown', Steven Knight-Scripted Pandemic-Themed Heist Pic Starring Anne Hathaway". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 6, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  3. Wiseman, Andreas (September 30, 2020). "'Lockdown': Ben Stiller, Lily James, Stephen Merchant, Dulé Hill, Jazmyn Simon & Mark Gatiss Set To Join Doug Liman's Harrods Heist Movie Underway In London". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  4. Fleming Jr, Mike (October 12, 2020). "Mindy Kaling, Sir Ben Kingsley, Lucy Boynton Join Doug Liman's Heist Thriller 'Lockdown' In London". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  5. Gleiberman, Owen (January 13, 2021). "'Locked Down' Review: Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor Excel as a Couple in Lockdown in Doug Liman's Up-to-the-Minute Pandemic Drama". Variety. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  6. Fleming Jr, Mike (December 2, 2020). "HBO Max Lands Doug Liman-Directed 'Lockdown;' AGC Studios-Funded Pandemic Heist Pic Stars Anne Hathaway, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ben Stiller". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  7. Sandwell, Ian (January 4, 2021). "Exclusive first look at Peaky Blinders creator's lockdown heist movie". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on January 4, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  8. Sampson, Mike (January 14, 2021). "New Warner Bros. Logo Reveled In Video". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  9. "Locked Down (2021)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  10. "Locked Down Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  11. Ehrlich, David (January 13, 2021). "'Locked Down' Review: Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor Carry Doug Liman's Pandemic Heist Comedy". IndieWire. Archived from the original on January 13, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  12. Allen, Nick (January 13, 2021). "Locked Down movie review & film summary (2021) | Roger Ebert". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  13. "Locked Down – A tone-deaf pandemic crime caper". web.archive.org. January 14, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
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