Directed by:
John HillcoatScreenplay:
Nick CaveCinematography:
Benoît DelhommeCast:
Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Dane DeHaan, Chris McGarry, Tim Tolin, Gary Oldman, Lew Temple (more)VOD (3)
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Set in 1920s prohibition era America, Lawless is the true story of the Bondurant brothers. Brazen and fearless, these young rural bootleggers became legendary criminals. The youngest brother, Jack (Shia LaBeouf), is ambitious and impulsive, the middle brother, Howard, is loyal but reckless and eldest brother, Forrest (Tom Hardy), leads the family with a silent determination. As the Bondurants' illicit business and legend grows, so too looms the danger of bigger fish, and it's not long before the brothers must face the consequences. (Momentum Pictures)
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This is what I was expecting from Michael Mann’s Public Enemies and I was disappointed. John Hillcoat and Nick Cave and a bunch of littleknown actors created a gangster film from the era of prohibition, where the goal is to portray the characters and their stories, rather than visual epicness (on the contrary, the visuals are rather dull and faded, for some incomprehensible reasons). A super bad villain, blood and brutality, friendship, brotherhood, black humor, feminine beauty and tenderness, and a final massacre. All of this blended together to create 100%-pure genre entertainment of a distinctive character. I vacillated between four and five stars, finally settling on five thanks to the festival atmosphere. [KVIFF]
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Brainless, plotless, gutless. A flat gangster film for beginners, which is the same as counterfeit whiskey, has all the necessary ingredients, but its taste lacks any of the sophistication of the original. If some people are satisfied with Hardy with a single grimace, Pearce acting on the verge of tolerability and LaBeouf the same as always, then by all means. I expect more from a prohibition gangster film than the familiar sentimental macho poses...
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Considering how precisely this movie was made, I missed something that would suck me into the story so that it could blow my mind with each new scene. The actors were great, the shots were amazing, the atmosphere of the first half of the 20th century was awesome, but the entire movie falls on small details. For example, I thought that the ending was a farce. And the entire shoot-out was like children meeting in the sandpit and sling-shooting pebbles at each other. Nobody knows who hit whom, some people are lying on the ground, some aren’t and some people are faking being hit. Really strange. Considering that this movie is so incredibly realistic, I’m lacking some sort of an eye for scenes that should have been key scenes and they were a flop instead. A shame.
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A lovable comic book movie that isn't based on a comic book. Wondering why it's a comic book movie? No? Let me tell you. For example, aside from the utterly Bond-esque mega-overacting of the über-villain Guy Pearce, the setting of the scenes (when Mia Wasikowska is there, the sun and gentle breeze caresses her face, while conversely all the Bondurant ranch scenes are shrouded in grey or snow, stroking Hardy's boxer all over the places on his body where it hurts), and the overall explicitness, it's especially the framing, which almost eliminates informative shots, for example. The dialogue sequences, too, virtually nowhere stoop to a shot/countershot scheme, and for the conflict sequences, these are dominated by framing containing both the attacker and his victim in the same frame. The stylized characters and their perfect casting keeps the attention even of those who might not give a shit about the fantastic detail and period fidelity of each film location, the legendary sound, the tame script with which Cave ungracefully buries the otherwise perfect Proposition, and the spectacular direction in the action scenes. After that, you don't even mind the severely mismanaged finale, where no one really knows what to do and they don't quite figure out how to hide it.
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Do you love Prohibition? Okay, then. Are you ready for some real bloody carnage? Okay, then. Are you interested in something more than just a bloody slaughter? Then you're in the wrong place. Of course, for those interested in a more comprehensive look at Prohibition, I recommend the series Boardwalk Empire.
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