Lawless (2012)

Genre: Drama

Directed by: John Hillcoat

Cast: Shia LeBeouf, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce

Running time: 115 minutes

In the early 1930’s, in the midst of Prohibition, the three Bondurant brothers, Forrest, Howard and Jack, are running a very lucrative moonshine business in the backwoods of Virginia. The boys are both feared and loved in the area and they are believed to be immortal by the locals. A new torn in their sides arrives in the form of Special Deputy Charley Rakes. Rakes is coming from Chicago and is dead set on stopping the Bondurant clan at all costs.

This film is based on the novel titled The Wettest County in the World, written by Matt Bondurant. Bondurant was inspired by the lives of his grandfather and his grand uncles. The book was adapted for the screen by Australian singer-songwriter Nick Cave.

While not an epic gagnster film, the likes of which we have come to see and love over the years, Lawless is still an effective film. The storyline is compelling and it easy to get invested in the characters and their fate, emotionally-speaking.

The actors and actresses involved all offer some solid performances, but I have to mention Guy Pearce. He is absolutely convincing as the over-zealous man of the law that you cannot help but hate, even though he is out to stop criminals from doing their bad deeds. In a way, his methods are worse than the crimes being committed.

All things considered, Lawless is a very good crime drama that is well worth the viewer’s time. It is a very entertaining movie for the fans of the crime genre.

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