Des hommes sans loi

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.

Good casting, good cinematography but after 1st half screenplay was poor; Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and Guy Pearce really did their best to make this movie watchable but sadly slow and lagging screenplay and poor ending it made this movie one time watchable.

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.

This film was very well done in giving us that 1920s vibe when alcohol was prohibited during that time. Be aware that it is very intense and quite gory in some scenes so it's definitely not for the fainted heart!