Lawless

Lawless has a great cast - Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce. - And a great story about three brother's growing up in Depression- era Virginia and based on a true story. The three brother's are bootleggers, but when a special deputy and other police figures want a cut of their action, their whole world turns upside down.

Everything seemed too good to be true. The cast, the story, everything. And it was, but only a little bit. The film was great, very enjoyable to watch, great acting from everyone involved. But the film, I felt, lacked something. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters, as in they felt too two-dimensional. I didn't really feel how they felt at certain points and it should have showed the brotherhood more instead of opting for blood and violence. I think the film needed to be more humorous, because it needed something to ease the tension between those bloody scenes and I think that was it.

Shia LaBeouf was very good and Tom Hardy was even better. Even the smaller roles like Gary Oldman's character were acted well. I think it spent too much time on the whole romance aspect of it and it should have laid off of that a bit more. But the acting was great from everyone and it was an enjoyable time at the cinema. It is a good film, but didn't live up to the expectations I had.

A solid 7/10.

Lawless is the story of the three Bondurant brothers from Franklin County, Virginia, Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke, and the runt of the litter Shia LaBoeuf. Before World War I the Bondurants made a good living selling moonshine, but now Prohibition has arrived and there are new problems on the horizon for those in that business.

One of the most colossal pieces of stupidity that America ever indulged in was Prohibition. We actually amended our constitution so that we could regulate morals. A good lesson for those who think regulation of one's personal behavior is a desired thing. What the Bondurants have to deal with is law enforcement which is in the form of a corrupt District Attorney Tim Tolin.

An idea like Prohibition is sure to bring out the corruption in many who see it as a way to take bribes. Tolin is one of those and he has a special deputy in Guy Pearce ready to enforce the law and those who don't bribe. That would be the Bondurants and we have the makings of an old fashioned mountain feud brewing.

LaBoeuf has a lot of trouble living up to the legend his brothers have created. In fact his weakness is the cause of a lot of problems. But when a young mountain kid Dane DeHaan is murdered by Pearce that gets a war started.

Both LaBoeuf and Pearce deliver some standout performances in Lawless. This is based on a novelization of some real incidents by a descendant of the Bondurant family. The recreation of Prohbition era rural Virginia is well done. Definitely worth a look.

Hold it everyone! Don't be put off because this has Shia Le Beouf in it. Yes, some of you loath him for the Transformers movies, Indy 4 and plenty of other stuff. However, in this one he manages to find a good vehicle to change his tact.

We are in prohibition time, in the countryside in Virginia. The men are tough and they enforce their own law protecting their moonshine businesses. However they aren't the cringing redneck cliché of many other films; this isn't Deliverance. This is a dark movie where it seems those outwith of the religious community live and survive by force. In comes law enforcers from outside led by a sadistic sergeant, and we have an explosive mix.

Again, don't get the wrong impression. This film isn't about gung-ho good v evil. This is a lot more. Based on a true story (albeit likely taking big liberties with the truth), this is about the relationship of three brothers: two are ruthless whilst the third (Le Beouf) is weak. They look out for each other and that's the real nub.

Action comes generally in short sharp moments, but thankfully doesn't detract from the rest of the movie. Surprisingly some great acting and great camera work.

Personally, I enjoyed this very much. Ending was the only bit I was disappointed with but rest was very good. Give it a try, you may be surprised with what you find.

Lawless takes a unique perspective of the prohibition era away from the gangsters of the day to the people that ran the moonshine distilling and distribution businesses behind the scenes and the challenges they faced. Based on a true story, this movie follows 3 brothers as they fight for their position and respect in the illegal business.

Few actors bring a high level of intensity to the character they play as Tom Hardy does and for his role as Forrest Bondurant, it's no let down. Shia LaBouf is too hokey an actor to take seriously in his role and tended to undersell some scenes due to a lack of appropriate or sincere expression and others like when he was getting a beat down by Special Deputy Charley Rakes couldn't oversell the scene more unless he did actual cartwheels after getting hit. The rest of the cast gave a quality performance and overall this movie is an interesting and exciting film to see.

Reading the other reviews, I'm amused by the number of reviewers who don't have a clue about how southern rural hill people behave (and esp. behaved back in the 1920s). They accuse Hardy, and to some extent LaBeouf, of bad acting because their characters are so laconic (that means they don't run off at the mouth a lot) and inward and don't wear every emotion on their sleeves. Then they mightily praise Oldman and Pearce for great acting when they were, in fact, just playing northern urban gangsters who like to behave over the top---the very thing that disgusts southern sensibilities.

The folks making those review comments have probably spent too much time watching movies based on comic books and not enough time with dramatic characters representing actual human beings. So don't pay attention to their noise.

Instead, watch the flick. It's good. I enjoyed it.