Lawless
In 1931, the Bondurant brothers of Franklin County, Virginia, run a multipurpose backwoods establishment that hides their true business — bootlegging. Middle brother Forrest is the brain of the operation; older Howard is the brawn, and younger Jack, the lookout. Though the local police have taken bribes and left the brothers alone, a violent war erupts when a sadistic lawman from Chicago arrives and tries to shut down the Bondurants operation.
-
- Cast:
- Shia LaBeouf , Tom Hardy , Gary Oldman , Guy Pearce , Jason Clarke , Jessica Chastain , Mia Wasikowska
Similar titles
Reviews
Pretty Good
Beautiful, moving film.
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.
During prohibition in Franklin Co. Virginia, three restaurant entrepreneur brothers operate an illegal moonshine business. Unfortunately everyone wants a piece of the pie, one that they are not eager to share. The brothers consist of Forrest (Tom Hardy), the brains and philosopher of the group. Howard (Jason Clarke) is a berserker, and Jack (Shia LaBeouf) is the shy driver. Jack is sweet on a Mennonite preacher's daughter (Mia Wasikowska) who likes his "bad boy" image.Guy Pearce plays Charlie Rakes, a one sided unlikable crooked deputy who makes us root for the moonshiners. Jessica Chastain provides a little style to the film as a city girl (former feather dancer) who wants to get away from Chicago and winds up working the restaurant for Forrest.As things pan out, young Jack must suddenly grow himself a set and take over the family enterprise against the odds. Good acting. High intensity.Parental Guide: F-bomb, sex, nudity (Malinda Baker), implied rape.
This was my first Tom Hardy experience, he's truly a revelation, he took a normal role and transformed it. He is the new Daniel Day Lewis, his intensity and strangeness infuses every scene he's in, he changes the cadence and meaning of most things in the movie. Weirdly, I felt like I had always seen him, like a song you really like but have never heard before and to be clear, this is not some fanboy thing - his walk, how he entered a scene, how he responds to other characters, he seems larger than life and he was acting with some pretty capable people. The music in the movie was great too, the movie itself was pretty black and white routine but worth the price of admission. Hardy's subsequent work on the Revenant, (which I hated) was also amazing as was his work on Mad Max. In the latter, he worked so well with Cherlize Theron who also is a fearless actor and ironically or maybe because of Hardy's intensity, she refused to have anything to do with him off the set. He's the real thing, when you see such talent, even if you know nothing about acting you realize you are in the presence of genius.
Set during prohibition era in rural Virginia, 'Lawless' tells the true story of three brothers who come together to fight those who threaten their family moonshine business.The film has plenty of positive aspects. I'm no fan of Shia LaBeouf and I initially questioned his suitability for this role, but he delivers a stellar performance. As does the excellent Tom Hardy. The cinematography is equally impressive and contributes to an overall well made film.Having said that, 'Lawless' is nothing special and will probably soon be forgotten. It's too generic to stand out and for all the positive points, there's something significant missing. A decent if unspectacular portrayal of a true story.
Given the rating this movie had received, I was somewhat looking forward to seeing it. Although I wasn't all too thrilled about the cast.Story-wise then "Lawless" was adequate entertainment. It wasn't particularly outstanding, nor overly memorable. And I don't think that it is a movie that I will ever sit down to watch a second time.The story is about the Bondurant brothers who run a very lucrative moonshine business. Determined to cut Down the illegal industry, Chicago policeman Charlie Rakes will go to extreme lengths to be successful.While the movie does have some fairly big names on the cast list, it wasn't the lead actors who were the most memorable in the movie, nor were they the ones who actually carried the movie. In my opinion it was Gary Oldman and Guy Pearce who were outshining everyone else in the movie.If you enjoy gangster and mobster movies, then there are far better choices than this one, because it is about moonshiners and not really about gangsters.Enjoyable enough for what it was and for a single viewing. "Lawless" isn't all what it is hyped up to be.