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| Courtesy of The Weinstein Company |
This has
been a great year for the actor, who delivered memorable performances in the
underrated This Means War and The Dark Knight Rises. But Hardy’s work in Lawless should establish him as a bona fide leading man. He evokes the tough
guys of classic Hollywood, brooding slabs of meat that were inexplicably replaced
by wispy heroes like Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp.
No
offense to those guys – they’re both fine actors – but neither looks like he
could take a punch in a real-world fistfight. Hardy, on the other hand, comes
across as a genuine brawler. That impression adds a great deal of legitimacy to
his role as Forrest Bondurant, the leader of a bootlegging family in
Depression-era Virginia. When two bumbling policemen approach him sitting on the
porch, then wince as he slowly rises out of his chair, you get why they’re
skittish.
Though
not the oldest brother, Forrest’s nature leaves little doubt as to why he’s in
charge. His siblings, Howard (Jason Clarke) and Jack (Shia LaBeouf), brew the
moonshine and make the deliveries, but they never forget that Forrest is the
reason they’re raking in the cash.
Of
course there’s no movie without conflict, so Nick Cave’s screenplay (based on
“The Wettest County in the World,” Matt Bondurant’s historical novel about his
own family) upends the brothers’ lives through the appearance of several
outsiders. The first is Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce), a preening enforcer brought
in from Chicago to keep the town’s criminal element in line.
The
others are Maggie Beauford (Jessica Chastain) and Bertha Minnix (Mia
Wasikowska), two very different love interests for Forrest and Jack,
respectively. Beauford also comes to town from Chicago, attempting to escape a
past that keeps chasing her. Bertha is a local girl, but you can understand why
her Mennonite minister father doesn’t want her spending time with the Bondurants.
Still, Jack refuses to give up on her, even if that means putting her in the
middle of dangerous situations she’s ill-prepared for.
When the
brothers refuse to give in to Rakes’ demands, they ignite a battle of wills
that escalates until the whole town is at war. Like all good gangster flicks,
there’s a sense of inevitability about the proceedings. Still, you might be
surprised by who is left standing when the smoke clears.
I’ve already
raved about Hardy for several paragraphs, but he really is why you should see
the movie. It’s also Hillcoat’s most crowd-pleasing film to date (The
Proposition and The Road weren’t exactly feel-good pictures), thanks to plenty
of outlandish performances and a satisfying conclusion. He can also direct the
heck out of a fight scene.
Pearce
makes Rakes eminently detestable, and you’ll be hoping for his gruesome demise from
his first scene. Gary Oldman is awesome (when is he not?) as an over-the-top
gangster, but it’s a glorified cameo. Always leave the audience wanting more, I
guess.
Chastain
doesn’t get much to do either, but she looks amazing doing it. Like Hardy, she’s
on her way to becoming a major movie star. Also worth mentioning is Dane
DeHaan, who plays Jack’s best friend and a sort of mascot for the Bondurants’ business.
In just a handful of scenes, he endears the underwritten character to
moviegoers. (He was very good in Chronicle earlier this year too.)
The only
person who feels miscast is LaBeouf. Jack is an inexperienced hothead, a role
the actor should be able to play in his sleep by now, but for some reason he
doesn’t quite pull it off. With everyone else in the film, I was able to look
past the performer and focus on the character he or she was playing. Anytime
LaBeouf was onscreen, however, I just saw the kid from Transformers dressing
up in gangster clothes.
That’s a
considerable gripe considering the actor is in a sizable chunk of the movie.
But the other actors, Hillcoat’s solid direction and Cave’s entertaining script
helped me to get past it. There’s typically not much worth recommending this
time of year, but Lawless makes the cut.
Lawless
is rated R for strong bloody violence, language and some sexuality/nudity.
Grade: B
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