Lawless: Review

Lawless tells the story of the Bondurant rothers, three men who, during the depression era in America, are in the bootlegging business. They make illegal moonshine and are allowed to do so by the local authorities who take a cut of their profits, but the established business is halted once a violent, hateful deputy by the name of Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) comes into town and tries to bring down the illegal activities fronted by the intimidating Forrest Bondurant (Tom Hardy). 

I'm just going to come out and say it now: Tom Hardy is the best part of this movie. That's not to say all the other accomplished actors such as Shia LaBeouf and Jason Clarke (who play Jack and Howard Bodurant, respectively) are a let-down, but Tom Hardy steals any scene he is in, despite rarely saying much. In fact when he does speak his American accent is often very difficult to interpret as it becomes increasingly gruff, but it's difficult to dislike Lawless solely due to the fact that Tom Hardy plays such an entertaining role as the most intimidating and powerful of the brothers. 

Forrest Bondurant (Tom Hardy)

Initially I thought Lawless was a Western of some sorts due to the name, but it was fun to watch a movie that focused on those involved in the moonshine business during the prohibition era in America, especially with such a vast array of acting talent. As previously mentioned, Guy Pearce who is also in films such as Iron Man 3 or Memento plays arguably the most hated character in the movie, and plays him to such a sinister degree. Gary Oldman also features as gangster Floyd Banner, but only has around 10 minutes of screen-time, which in my opinion was a huge mistake as his character seemed genuinely interesting and could have been utilized a lot more. 

Verdict
Lawless isn't going to be amongst the best movies I have ever seen, but it is certainly entertaining when it picks up. Everybody who took part acted to a believable and entertaining standard, and I was surprised at how enjoyable it was to watch Shia LaBeouf begin as the weakest of the three Bodurant brothers but change drastically over the course of the movie. The violence featured is at times a little grotesque, but for a movie with an 18 certificate you cannot expect anything else.    7.8/10

"I'm a Bondurant. We don't lay down for nobody."