Lawless is directed by John Hillcoat and written by Nick Cave. The two had previously collaborated on western masterpiece The Proposition, which is one of my all time favorite movies. So I was a bit disappointed with Lawless. as it was a deeply flawed movie. First lets start with what Lawless gets right. For one it looks great. The shop composition is fantastic. It also largely works as a period piece with realistic and accurate aesthetics all around ranging from the costumes to the environments. Its overall well directed and edited too. And last but not least it contains a stand out performance from character actor Guy Pearce who gives by far the most memorable performance in the film as the main bad guy.The biggest flaw however is the script. Which has many plot holes/contrivances and wooden, uninteresting characters. Not even great actors like Tom Hardy or Jessica Chastaine manage to shine with their roles. There simply is not enough to these characters to make you care.Also Shia Labeouf feels miscast to me. He does an alright job for the most part but he does not have the charisma or screen presence to be the lead of the film (especially not when he has to go toe to toe with actors like Guy Pearce, Tom Hardy, and Gary Oldman) he also doesn't know how to do a southern accent properly or consistently (to be fair Hardy also has trouble with this)There are individual great scenes in this film. But it does not add to being a solid film all around thanks to a incomplete feeling story with too many contrivances, and wooden one dimensional characters. Also why did this movie hire Gary Oldman (one of the finest actors of all time) for a role that amounted to nothing more than a cameo?!?!

John Hillcoat's Lawless is the very definition of badass. Bathed in blood and moonshine, gilded by Nick Cave's rustic, textured musical score and brought alive by vivid and varied performances from an eclectic, grizzled cast, it's one of the most enjoyable gangster pictures to come along in recent years. It follows the rough and tumble Bondurant brothers, fabled bootleggers who defy prohibition and run their product all over the aptly named 'wettest county in the world', until the greedy and very corrupt arm of the law snakes its way into the territory. The eldest and toughest is Forrest, a grumbly, shambling Tom Hardy who's something of a gentle giant, until the straight razor comes out and he's not. Jason Clarke is Howard the booze hound, who has sour mash coursing through his veins and a temper to prove it, and Shia Leboeuf, somewhat miscast, does his best as the youngest of the three. The three of them run an idyllic little manufacturing and distribution ring spiralling out of their county into the nearby area, until trouble comes looking for them, in the form of a monster played by Guy Pearce. Now when I say monster, I mean it.. when the villain in your film is scarier than Gary 'Scary' Oldman's roguish supporting work, you know you have one hell of an antagonist. Pearce, sporting a sour look and parted hair that Moses could lead his people through, is Charlie Rakes, some kind of government dispatched deputy whose sole purpose is to make out heroic trio's lives exceedingly difficult. Cheerfully sadistic and ruthlessly corrupt, Rakes is a bona fide moustache twirling psychopath and Pearce milks the role for all it's worth, as per usual in his case. Oldman does appear briefly but memorably as lively gangster Floyd Banner, a shark of a businessman with a fondness for tommy gun tantrums resulting in vehicular mayhem. The film walks a line between two distinct tones, which can be seen in the characteristics of the pair of older brothers: Hardy is laid back, laconic and ambles along at his own pace, which any film set in the south just has to have a bit of, whilst Clarke is volatile, fired up and hot blooded, also needed in crime fare. So you have a relaxed, violent, wistful piece with a mean streak that sneaks up on you more than a few times. Any Ozark tale wouldn't be complete without a romantic flair, as Hardy is swept off his feet by mysterious, plucky Jessica Chastain and Lebeouf has an eye for a beautiful Amish girl played by Mia Wasikowska. The film looks visually magnificent, shot in broad, sturdy rural strokes by Benoit Delhomme, and strict, impressive attention to detail is paid throughout. While maybe not as gritty or mythic as it wants to be, or at least as far as Hillcoat's previous work has been (The Proposition remains the stomach churning gold standard), it's a full blown, R rated crime picture, something more than welcome in an age when the genre has had its blood somewhat watered down. Highly recommended.

Tom Hardy has such an on screen presence. It's almost impossible for other characters to hold up. I absolutely LOVED this movie. The acting was amazing from all involved, yes evening including LePoof. Especially Tom Hardy. The plot, the acting, the actors, and the setting of the movie was SPOT ON. They channeled the Bondurant brothers to a T. I've loved every movie Tom Hardy plays in, and this one was by FAR his best. Better than Inception, better than Locke, and it's a tie for The Drop. Sad thing is, for some reason, The Oscars and Academy Awards just WONT recognize his amazing talent. Love you Tom Hardy and love this movie. Will be watching it and re-watching it over and over :)

I was very satisfied with this movie. I find anything with individual prohibition stories and tales fascinating. I knew a little about the Bondurant brothers and was interested to see how this movie would depict them.This movie is a good watch with a great cast. I think Tom Hardy plays Forrest really well, Shia LeBouf is actually likable as Jack and Jason Clarke does a brilliant job in the role of Howard. When I first seen the casting I was sceptical but after watching the movie I was really impressed. The reason why I didn't rate this movie any higher than I did although I really enjoyed it is because we as viewers did not see much immediate aftermath after Rakes was killed. I would of liked to see how the towns people/locals and law enforcement reacted instead of cutting to all the brothers happily married. I guess I am asking for too much as the movie is already almost 2 hours long.Regardless of my only negative the movie is drama and action packed with good casting and acting and is definitely a one to watch.