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| Director: John Hillcoat (2012) |
I’ll admit, the main reason I went to see
lawless was because of the big names on the poster. I mean, who could resist a
film that features Jessica Chastain, Gary Oldman, Tom hardy and Guy Pearce? The
story, centred on a supposedly true story about moonshine bootlegging during
the prohibition also gained my curiosity. What director John Hillcoat doesn’t
do, is mesh all of these excellent features into a good film, and instead,
lawless can only be described as squandered potential.
Following the Bondurant brothers, the eager
Jack (Shia LaBeouf), animalistic Howard (Jason Clarke) and leader Forrest (Tom
Hardy), we witness their illegal moonshine making business in the Virginia
outback. With even the law enforcement in the palm of their hand, the brothers
certainly live up to their reputation of being invincible. Things begin to
change though, with the arrival of special deputy Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce)
who intends to make their life “real difficult from now on”. And so begins
lawless, a film that simply underwhelms at almost every turn.
Hillcoat tries to paint the Bondurants
occupation as large scale, a well oiled machine of moonshine making, but fails
horribly. For the most part, it’s like only these 3 brothers have most of the
state in a chokehold all on their own. The lack of scale is also applied rather
disappointingly to the action scenes. Shootouts are small and insignificant,
and besides Forrest’s penchant for punching people in the throat, fight scenes
lack anything other than a gratuitous amount of blood, the red stuff being used
in an attempt to make things more interesting. It doesn’t. This extends to the
films all out climax, which also lacks the scale and conviction needed to
become an interesting facet of the film.
Easily the redeeming features of lawless
are the performances from a great cast. While Mia Wasikowska’s was one
dimensional and Clarkes’s role revolved around alcoholism and punching, the
remaining performances are a bright light for the film. Chastain (back after
making what felt like millions of films in 2011) is the sultry Maggie, a woman
after the affection of Forrest and the peace of the countryside. Tom Hardy’s
Forrest possesses an indomitable presence, but doesn't get the screentime to be
developed as well as he could, despite Hardy’s great effort. LaBeouf is
surprisingly watchable, something I never believed I would say after the
abhorrence that was Sam Witwicky in transformers 3. Oldmans performance lasted
mere minutes, but it was great. He plays Chicago gangster Floyd Banner a
ruthless killer and lover of moonshine, complete with a wink loaded with more
charm than most of the entire film. The defining performance (and best thing
about lawless) must go to Guy Pearce as superficial villain Charlie Rakes. A
man of extreme vanity, slick hair, perfume and shaven eyebrows, he is a camp,
yet dangerous adversary for the trio of brothers. He’s a scene stealer, that’s
for sure, and is undoubtedly the best thing that Lawless has to offer.
When the film rolls into its arbitrary
epilogue, I began to feel more and more short-changed by Lawless. It’s not to
say it’s a poor film, but rather a film that was less than the sum of its
parts. The cast is predictably good, but there’s little here to build up
tension or interest. As soon as the credits role, the pangs of disappointment
start, and the only memorable thing about Lawless is that it won’t be
remembered.
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