LOCKED OUT is, as is typical for an Albert Dupontel film, bonkers. It's essentially a homage to Silent Era comedy (half Chaplin, half Keaton) with all the editing, colour and language of the modern world. It's about a glue-sniffing tramp who finds the uniform of a suicidal policeman and, in order to get a free lunch in the police canteen, starts wearing it. Before long he's trying to right wrongs, form a hobo police force and kidnapping businessmen in order to recover the child of the ex-porn star he's fallen for. Like many manic films the pacing is a bit odd: at times it builds gags until you can't stop laughing, whilst at other times it feels a little saggy. That said, the laughs are worth waiting for and at 80 minutes or so it never overstays its welcome. It helps that every inch of the film is filled with great ideas, characters and design (look out for Terry Deary as a tramp who tries to scam a meal by pretending Terry Gilliam is his baby) and that it does manage to end on a sensitive emotional note. Try it.
Review of Locked Out
