Review: 'Lawless' - Bootlegging Brothers

Violent, bleak and poignant, John Hillcoat's Lawless works by turns. But when it does, it hits like one of them Tommy guns. Hillcoat's expert filmmaking appear in full opacity - beautiful images, inspired performances and first-rate execution surround you like it's your birthday. A fine treat. However, the story, being based from the true accounts of Matt Bondurant in his book "The Wettest Country in the World", may appear as a lackluster in authenticity. But could you blame them? Real life and tall tale make a good brew in the movie, anyway. And besides, true events doesn't always make "good" stories, do they?

Nick Cave did the uneven screenplay. He has worked with Hillcoat before, in the unflinching and grim The Proposition. There are moments of brilliance in the script, but there are - sadly - a better supply of drabness in some parts. In the center of it is Jack Bondurant (Shia LaBeouf), who helps in bootlegging booze despite the alcohol-prohibition law. He does this with his brothers Forrest (Tom Hardy) and Howard (Jason Clarke) and everything is seemingly fine. Cops become their customers, they hop from on one  bar to another. Put short, business is alive and kicking. But this ends when a new deputy named Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) and a couple of gangs pose threat to their business. A war is waged.

LaBeouf is obviously the main man in the movie, but he is harshly upstaged by Warrior and The Dark Knight Rises treasure Tom Hardy who owns each frame he's in. LaBeouf finally gets out of the Transformer blockbusters and it's frankly a good thing. Actors like his kind aren't supposed to be clipped by nonsensical movies like his previous robotic spectacles. Pearce is the great actor that he is. He has been in all three of Hillcoat's features (The Proposition, The Road and this). Jason Clarke is just there to add up. 

Chronicle star Dane DeHaan easily sparks in this movie and you firmly hold on to his character. He plays LaBeouf's best friend and the ingenious alchemist of the moonshiners. Mia Wasikowska plays Bertha, Jack's love interest and Jessica Chastain ably plays Maggie, Forrest's flame. Gary Oldman plays a gangster. Conventionally, he's badass.

As the story progresses, these characters grow more bleak. They seem to ignore the idea that killing takes one life, and somehow it hints that the movie may be celebrating it. Lawless, is not the most even work out there, but it's too lush to even pass up. A-