Moonshine, bootleggers and Prohibition.
Lawless based on the “mostly” true story of the Bondurant
brothers, Howard (Jason Clarke); mostly crazy, drinks more than his
fair share of moonshine so he can drown out when he was in the war,
Forrest (Tom Hardy) The smart one of the bunch. He's the one everyone
respects, he runs the family business and the bootlegging operation.
And there's Jack (Shia LeBeouf) the youngest, the runt, the one who's
naïve and gun-shy but has big ideas he clearly doesn't fully think
through.
The movie is based on the novel The
Wettest County in the World. I put the book on hold at my library
for later. The movie is set in 1931 during the height of Prohibition.
The area of Franklin County, Virginia is the mecca of moonshine. Most
of the residents drink it, a good group make & sell it and a the
law enforcement is fully aware and frequently purchases it. The idea
is that the major gangsters in Chicago etc all buy from this county.
The Bondurant boys are also somewhat of a local legend with the idea
that they can't be killed. They have been sole survivors of platoons
being wiped out, massive sickness etc and still keep moving.
Everything changes for them when a Special Deputy Rakes, played by an
awesome Guy Pearce, comes to town telling all the bootleggers he's
going to collect a fee or put them out of business you can smell the
turf war coming. The movie has a predictable amount of gore, someone
actually gets tarred and feathered. The Bondurant boys are violent as
this is a time when you have to make sure you do what you need to
survive. Forrest feeds right into the legend by defying death a few
times in the film. Tom Hardy is great in this as Forrest, he plays
this simple calm man when he has to, his ambivalence towards Maggie
in the beginning, the way he grunts instead of talking he just owns
this role. Shia LeBeouf on the other had isn't all that impressive.
His character goes from the scared younger brother to the guy
flashing new clothes and cars all over town once the brothers strike
a deal with Floyd Banner (Gary Oldman) and bring in much more money.
He also narrates the film and at some points his southern boy accent
grates.
I give this movie a Netflix. The movie
is not uneven but you get the highs of the majority of the cast and
Shia feels like he's bringing up the rear. The way it's marked you
feel like this is his vehicle but he goes from slightly unimpressive
to full on asshole you hope dies in the end. He's just not that
convincing. I don't know why because I actually think he's a pretty
good actor but this was painful at times and it brings down an
otherwise good film.
The movie clocks in just under 2 hours.
Lawless is Rated R.
