‘Lawless’ Review

Release Date: August 29, 2012
Director: John Hillcoat
MPAA Rating: R
Film Pulse Score: 6.5/10

In John Hillcoat’s new film Lawless, he attempts to bring the true story of the bootlegging Bondourant family to life, and achieves varying degrees of success in doing so. What it amounts to, is a graphic depiction of the violent reality these individuals lived in during America’s prohibition, with some excellent performances, and some average storytelling.

Lawless is structured like a fairly typical gangster film. There’s the Bondurant boys, played by Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, and Jason Clarke, who run a bootlegging operation in the hills of Franklin County, Virginia. All is well, until a corrupt deputy, played very creepily by Guy Pearce comes in and attempts to extort them for money.  Things escalate, and become bloody very quickly as the brothers fight for survival.

In addition to this main plot, there are several subplots happening in this film, which is problematic. The addition of the Jessica Chastain, Gary Oldman, and Mia Wasikowska storylines muddy the waters of the main story and cause the film to lose focus on several occasions. Many gangster films employ this tactic, in order to further develop the main players, however, in this film, there’s simply too much packed in. This probably would have worked better if less time was spent on the multiple love stories in the film, and focused more on plot progression. That’s not to say they should have been omitted entirely, just truncated in order to have the ability to expound on some other ideas, such as Gary Oldman’s role.

Gary Oldman plays Floyd Banner, a ruthless gangster who becomes involved with distributing the boys’ moonshine.  While Oldman was prominently featured in the first third of the film, he was quickly forgotten, and never seen again.  This is a shame, because as always, Oldman kicks out an incredible performance.

And it’s the performances that propel this film into something worth watching.  Tom Hardy as Forrest Bondurant is incredible, and probably the best role I’ve seen him in.  Hardy proves once again, that he is the ultimate bad-ass with the acting chops to back it up. Some may complain about the fact that he has far less screen time than Shia LaBeouf, who acts as the main protagonist and (unnecessary) narrator of the film, but I would argue with a character like that, less is more.

Another stand out performance would be that of Guy Pearce in the role of Charlie Rakes. With his non-existent eyebrows, creepy haircut, and creepier demeanor, Pearce plays an excellent villain, someone you want to see get whacked from the moment he walks onto the screen.

In the end, Lawless does little to elevate the ganger genre to new levels, but it does tell an interesting, and true story about brutal life was, less than a century ago. While the story and structuring might have been slightly underwhelming, the strong performances from a great cast, and the intense spurts of violence, make this a solid recommendation.