Director John Hillcoat and his now established partner-in-crime screenwriter/composer, Nick Cave, are back with the aggressively macho, actor-packed, gun toting Lawless. Leaving behind the colonial-era of Australia, seen in The Proposition, and the post-apocalyptic America, which shaped the world in The Road, the pairing are back but with a new setting and time.
The smokey Virginia hillscapes and backroads take centre stage in this tribute to one of America's infamous past times. It's the 1930s and three rebellious, bootlegging brothers find the elusive American Dream within their reach, and fight to maintain their grip as powerful urban gangsters. At the height of Prohibition, ambitious country boy Jack Bondurant (Shia LaBeouf) dreams of becoming the law's nightmare while reaping all the benefits that go with the gangster lifestyle.
By expanding his family's moonshine business, he plots to launch a vast criminal empire while winning the heart of beautiful Amish girl Bertha (Mia Wasikowska). With his older, intimidating brother Howard (Jason Clarke) by his side, Jack has the brawn to get the job done. But they need a strong leader to guide them, a responsibility that falls on their eldest sibling Forrest (Tom Hardy). Meanwhile, as the three siblings rise to power while battling treachery on both sides of the law, a mysterious woman named Maggie (Jessica Chastain) appears out of nowhere, prompting the thoughtful Forrest to question the true price of his outlaw ways.
Lawless has all the ingredients you'd expect from the moonshiner/bootlegger gangster sub-genre. It's not the first or last time American culture thought a little too well of its own criminal underclass and doesn't disappoint in doing so here. Some of these conventions include the cocky 20th century mountain peasant with no education, fearless of anything and anyone that holds any form of authority. With organised crime, bloody shoot-outs and an irresistible dame, this account on true events does not fail in staying loyal to its generic format. If you're a fan of this kind of flick then do not miss out. If you're a stranger tempted with curiosity then I'll repeat - do not miss out!
The smokey Virginia hillscapes and backroads take centre stage in this tribute to one of America's infamous past times. It's the 1930s and three rebellious, bootlegging brothers find the elusive American Dream within their reach, and fight to maintain their grip as powerful urban gangsters. At the height of Prohibition, ambitious country boy Jack Bondurant (Shia LaBeouf) dreams of becoming the law's nightmare while reaping all the benefits that go with the gangster lifestyle.
By expanding his family's moonshine business, he plots to launch a vast criminal empire while winning the heart of beautiful Amish girl Bertha (Mia Wasikowska). With his older, intimidating brother Howard (Jason Clarke) by his side, Jack has the brawn to get the job done. But they need a strong leader to guide them, a responsibility that falls on their eldest sibling Forrest (Tom Hardy). Meanwhile, as the three siblings rise to power while battling treachery on both sides of the law, a mysterious woman named Maggie (Jessica Chastain) appears out of nowhere, prompting the thoughtful Forrest to question the true price of his outlaw ways.
Lawless has all the ingredients you'd expect from the moonshiner/bootlegger gangster sub-genre. It's not the first or last time American culture thought a little too well of its own criminal underclass and doesn't disappoint in doing so here. Some of these conventions include the cocky 20th century mountain peasant with no education, fearless of anything and anyone that holds any form of authority. With organised crime, bloody shoot-outs and an irresistible dame, this account on true events does not fail in staying loyal to its generic format. If you're a fan of this kind of flick then do not miss out. If you're a stranger tempted with curiosity then I'll repeat - do not miss out!
''Everybody does well here. It has great suspense, everything''
Darren Richmond - IMDB
''The Moonshiner film is a rural subgenre of the Hollywood Gangster movie and it's back with a vengeance in its bloodiest incarnation yet courtesy of the Nick Cave-scripted Lawless''
Michael Atkinson - Sight and Sound
Check out the trailer below:
Lawless (18) is showing on Friday 5th Oct at 7.45pm, Saturday 6th Oct at 2pm & 7.45pm and Monday 8th Oct at 7.45pm
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