> REVIEW
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Lawless (2012)
Brothers, gangsters, heroes. Hillcoat and Cave return to the West…
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By Matt Arnoldi | September 2012
DIRECTOR: John Hillcoat
WRITER(s): Nick Cave / Matt Bondurant (source)
In the rugged backwoods of prohibition-era Virginia the moonshine business is thriving. And leading the way with sales of their homemade brew are the notorious Bondurant brothers. With a bootleg kingdom built and headed up by the indomitable Forrest (Tom Hardy), war vet Howard (Jason Clarke) and the younger, more impressionable Jack (Shia LaBeouf), the trio supply to the demand of everyone from the local bars and Sheriff to little old ladies.
Yet threats to their idyll are pressing. In the city of Chicago, gangs are vying for power and when charismatic mobster, Floyd Banner (Gary Oldman) strides into town all guns blazing, it soon becomes clear a new, modern enemy is encroaching on the Bondurant’s empire.
Onto the scene comes crooked Special Agent Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce), a slick, cunning embodiment of corporate progression, and polar opposite to Forrest’s more simple ethos, with an ultimatum for the proud Bondurant clan – hand over a percentage of their profits or things will start to become very ‘difficult’.
Also altering the dynamics is the appearance of feisty blonde Maggie (another eye-catching turn by Jessica Chastain) who becomes close to the unyielding Forrest, whilst starry-eyed tearaway Jack falls for the daughter of the preacher (Mia Wasikowska), a relationship which offers up one of the film’s more effective moments, when the ungodly Jack wrestles with the beads of sweat on his brow as he attends a church service just so he can catch a glimpse of the angelic Bertha.
Based on Matt Bondurant’s bio-drama, The Wettest County in the World, John Hillcoat and Nick Cave’s highly anticipated return to the Western is an exciting, if somewhat uninspiring attempt to storm the mainstream. Lacking the focus and subtly of their previous collaboration, The Proposition, Lawless is a powder-keg of a movie, that for all its pulpy visuals and unrelenting violence, never truly explodes in the way you hope it will.
While its A-list cast, as impressive and game as they are, are burdened with characters so rife with staple cinematic traits that many lack the depth or believability to truly convince and engage. From Gary Oldman’s peripheral mobster to Guy Pearce’s slime and suit antagonist, everyone is so distinctively black and white it borders on pantomime.
Tom Hardy steals the show with his mumbling, grunting portrayal of the fearless Forrest, while Shia LaBeouf provides able support as the ambitious Jack, though his coming of age arc at times threatens to pinch the film from Hardy, and Dane DeHaan impresses in a cameo role as Jack’s assistant, Cricket.
There’s a lingering sense of inevitability to Hillcoat and Cave’s narrative path and the pair struggle to make better use of the film’s more intriguing external elements (the mob, religion) in favour of relaying a simple feud between the Bondurant brothers and Rakes.
And yet, Hillcoat’s depiction of the West remains captivating and his pumped up, striking visuals compliment Cave and Ellis’ atmospheric soundtrack providing the stilted narrative with a much needed shot of adrenaline. But for all it’s rowdiness, Lawless plays it all rather straight.
Script…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Nick Cave’s gritty and brooding dialogue is once again a highlight, but his
fondness for the original source material makes for a far too guarded and
simplistic adaptation. 3
Direction………………………………………………………………………………………..
Shot on location, Hillcoat brings a powerful, somewhat over-cinematic vibrancy
to his ultra-violent period drama, which lacks the unique identity of his previous
outings. 3
Verdict…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Punch-drunk-Hollywood. 3
