Lawless, 2012.
Directed by John Hillcoat.
Starring Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Jessica Chastain, Guy Pearce and Mia Wasikowska.
SYNOPSIS:
The true story of the infamous Bondurant brothers: bootlegging siblings who made a run for the American Dream in Prohibition-era Virginia.
Seeing that Lawless starred Shia LaBeouf (Transformers) and Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) as brothers who sell moonshine in the Prohibition era, I was immediately on board. Throw in John Hillcoat (The Road) as director and this had the makings of being one of the best movies of the year. So how does Lawless hold up?
Jack (LaBeouf), Forrest (Hardy) and Howard (Jason Clarke) Bondurant work together in Franklin County, Virginia selling bootleg liquor. It’s the Prohibition era and alcohol has been banned but that isn’t stopping the Bondurant boys, who plan on selling alcohol by any means necessary. When Special Agent Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) pays the boys a visit and tells them he wants a cut from everything they make from their business, all hell starts to break loose.
Lawless works for two main reasons – the performances are fantastic and the direction by Hillcoat is great. The chemistry between LaBeouf, Hardy and Clarke is fun to watch and you really get the sense that these guys are brothers. Any scene involving all three were definitely the highlights of the movie.
The story here is pretty straight forward, which is a good thing because that means it shouldn’t pander around from time to time. However, Lawless does tend to get side tracked from time to time with a couple side stories. A sub plot with Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight Rises) as mobster Floyd Banner could have been great but they don’t spend enough time with it and the story eventually fades away after a while. Another side story involving Dane DeHaan (Chronicle) as Cricket, a friend of the Bondurant’s who helps out with their bootlegging, doesn’t have much going for it either. DeHaan plays a likable character but he’s nothing more than a plot device for something that happens later on. They should have either dropped both of these characters or fleshed out the stories around them a little more, which would have made the movie even better.
Like I mentioned before the performances are a key factor that carries this movie. Shia LaBeouf really has to hold his own here since the story revolves mostly around his character and he does a fabulous job. Tom Hardy once again proves that he is one of the best working actors around today. His performance works best here and he provides some of the best lines and scenes in the movie. I’m not too familiar with Jason Clarke’s previous work but I have to say that the guy was able to perform very well along side LaBeouf and Hardy.
The rest of the cast all give great performances as well. Guy Pearce is outrageously over-the-top in his role. He’s pretty much a mustache twirling villain but he makes it work. While Gary Oldman doesn’t have a lot of screen time he makes the most of it and makes you want more from his character. Jessica Chastain (The Help) plays Maggie who works as a waitress at the Bondurants’ bar. Like Tom Hardy, she is proving time and time again that she is one of the best actresses working today and here she puts on another great performance. Dane DeHaan does well enough in his role and Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) also plays the love interest for LaBeouf’s character quite well.
In the end, Lawless doesn’t quite reach the potential it had but it’s still a good movie.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Jake Peffer
Originally published September 6, 2012. Updated April 11, 2018.
