Movie Review: Lawless

Movie Review: Lawless

What promised to be a thrilling Prohibition gangster flick set in the backwoods of Virginia turned out to be a rather lifeless movie, which is disappointing given the stellar cast John Hillcoat had at his disposal. Though Tom Hardy provides another solid but quirky performance as Forrest Bondurant and Guy Pearce surprises as the sadistic and quite neurotic Charley Rakes, even these performances grow old and fail to infuse any lasting life and character into the slice and ice violence that is Lawless.

Hillcoat does a fantastic job thematically; the themes he presents are clear and noticeable, though perhaps not so prevalent throughout the movie as they should be. Although Lawless is based upon the “glory days” of the Bondurant brothers during Prohibition, Hillcoat manages to break the story away from the biography mold and turn it into a tale of action and consequence; the individual versus the family; the material versus the principle. Every character struggles with one or more of these themes during the movie.

However, that is not to say that every character embraces and grows from his often tragic experiences with any of the themes. My biggest problem with the movie is its lack of growth on any level. The characters remain frustratingly flat and the plot never far from a gritty, violent backwoods brawl between two stubborn and self-interested parties. Watch Shia LaBeouf’s character, Jack Bondurant, who is perhaps the biggest cause of the chaos and bloodshed through his selfish actions. Instead of learning from the death that follows in the wake of one of Jack’s flashy purchases, he simply gets angry and dashes of in search of vengeance.

For me, LaBeouf’s character was another rather large bone I have to pick with this movie. Somewhat predictably LaBeouf is again playing the “runt of the litter,” the youngest sibling driven by a desire to prove himself to his older brothers, particularly Forrest. While LaBeouf is by no means a bad actor, the movie suffered from its focus on his story and the action at times felt like a backdrop for his struggles to court Bertha Minnix (Mia Wasikowska) and come into the family bootlegging business. I would have loved to see more of Forrest (Hardy) and Howard Bondurant (Jason Clarke), the latter of which is given almost no backstory whatsoever.

Overall, Lawless was by no means a standout of the year’s summer season in cinema; another movie that had such potential to be good but sadly fell short of the mark. However, Lawless is by no means a terrible movie, simply one that would have benefitted greatly from more focus and balance, particularly in terms of characterization. Featuring entertaining performances by Tom Hardy and Guy Pearce, Lawless is a unique and gritty depiction of life during Prohibition away from the flash and hustle of big-city mobsters.

Overall Rating: 7.7 out of 10