What do you take away from this move?

locke was a bastard child , father was never there
he creates a bastard child..ie he is 100% like his father,very Shakespearean here.

Mm, but that would have just postponed the issues...

I think Ivan is trying to be so right he ends up being wrong almost. The whole "10 years you worked for me..." - "No it was 9 years". And he keeps correcting him because he wants to be things the right way. Sometimes you dont have to be right and some times its ok to lie I would think.

Being smart is better than being right.

I agree about Garreth's line being crucial, but I think that what is missed a lot is that this is the most unremarkable man. 10 years at work and he never caused a bother, the Council guy remembers he runs a tight ship, his wife isn't even willing to believe it, his kids will still love him, Donal runs around drunk for him, Steffan does the job and checks work that's not his for him.

This is one night in the life of a man without incident. A neat man, a concise man, a thorough man, attributes which fit his actually important job, but attributes that also compensate for not being academically or corporately successful..

He's never played an angle because he never needed to. Like the whole movie, he is very straightforward.

Dum Spiro Spero

I noticed that people hear what you say but they aren't actually listening. I would assume Locke's wife would know about his childhood and recognize the importance for him to not make similar mistakes in not righting th wrong essentially. Same with the co-workers and other heads of the construction projects. When Locke says he will continue with the project because he care about it, his boss hears the same thing and the exact same phrase more than once but still doesn't understand or listen to what Locke is trying to commuincate. Same with Bethan, Locke mentioned he was going to be there every single time he spoke with her but her lack of trust in that situaton or her lack of listening to the sincerity in which he spoke made her ask the same question over and over.

In addition to what other posters have said I really think that the movie demonstrate how self-centered some people can be without consideration to the emotions and situations others find themselves in. I am not making ANYONE a villian in the movie, since the characters were simply human, not good or bad.


Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage and make a Northwest Passage to the Sea

What I found so interesting was that the movie really had no judgement on anyone. It was just a glimpse into the moment of crisis in someone's life.

Yes, Locke was a likable guy. Everyone says this is unlike him, so he is a steady, reliable fellow. He screwed up big time. He desires to 'make it right'. Here is the problem with Locke's perspective, in my mind: I'm not sure I actually heard him apologize to his wife, or his sons. He says he made a mistake and it was just one time, but he is not crying, he is not even outright asking for forgiveness. He states the facts and insists that there is a way to 'fix it'. Like concrete. Except people aren't like concrete, and you can't always turn those lemons into lemonade. He sounded almost clinical talking to his wife, and so I felt like he was either disconnected emotionally from the impact of his actions, or he was in shock about what was happening and so essentially functioning on autopilot.

He is clearly emotionally damaged, whether that be as a result of his upbringing or whatever else. He handles his intimate relations(except for maybe his kids, we saw some cracks in his control when he was talking to them) like he does the concrete. I think he is aware of how much he has ruined, and right now he is just in 'try to make the best of it" mode. I think he will show emotion and regret later...even though he is comparing himself favorably to his father, I think there is actually a undercurrent of self-loathing in all that. I'm not sure he believes it. When Stefan says that Locke is the best man in England, Locke stays dead silent and has a very pained expression on his face. He knows what a complete dog he has been. And I think that means that there is hope for them to work things out.

So yes, I like him. I hope he comes crawling back to his wife and that she eventually forgives him. I hope they see the problems in their relationship that led to this situation, and take steps to strengthen the relationship so that it never happens again. The wife reacted badly(understandably) and maybe said some things that she will regret later and desire to take back(the "don't come back" thing). Locke has obviously screwed up huge. And he knows it. But he doesn't really know how to sincerely ask for forgiveness.