As we wind down the summer blockbuster season, there are a few familiar faces that start popping up after having relatively quiet years. One of them is Shia LeBeouf; after a whole year off, he’s back, and leading the bill in yet another American prohibition film, Lawless, but this time with a “twist” – the lawbreakers are the good guys and it’s set out in the country!
Back in the old Prohibition days, there were the three Bondurant brothers in the wild countryside around Chicago. They were the big beast-like elder Forrest (Tom Hardy, The Dark Knight Rises), equally animalistic Howard (Jason Clarke, Public Enemies) and the younger, ambitious, runt-of-the-litter Jack (LeBeouf, Transformers: Dark Of The Moon). The three were happy running their small time moonshine business, until the day the law expanded out to their neck of the woods and wanted a slice of the business. Now they’ve got Special Agent Rakes (Guy Pearce, Prometheus) on their case, it’s time for the three to expand or die to keep the Bondurant name alive.
Lawless has such a rich cast, it’s ridiculous; Hardy is the real star as the weathered and quiet Forrest, whose not afraid to act (and act hard) when necessary. He has the hick character nailed down with such a hulking, commanding, presence on screen, and whilst he does speak normally, he still carries a Bane-esque voice from The Dark Knight Rises (throwing in these little mumbling, hardly audible, noises to reflect how Forrest is still set in his ways as a country boy).
LeBeouf actually puts in a great performance as well; it’s not an award winner, but it’s entertaining enough. As someone whose followed his career and not seen why he’s gotten the level of fame he has on a formerly limited ability, it’s a pleasant surprise to see the shift LeBeouf puts in; he’s perfectly cast as the young man in love with the gangster culture in Chicago, aiming to be one of them and gain the acceptance of his brothers in the process. He also has a decent coming of age story; starting out as just a laughable runt and rising to the point where he’s an unstoppable force of violent nature at the end.
Pearce is also a joy as Rakes and you can tell it’s role he relishes; when you first see him come on screen, it’s after this scene-setting shot of a hick-like, backwater, town in America, so he’s made to stand out a country mile in his pinstripe suit, black leather gloves and oiled, slicked back hair; and you think he’s going to stick out like a sore thumb as he’s very cartoonish… until he starts being violent. Rakes is portrayed as a monster that will do anything to accomplish his task of stopping alcohol and Pearce makes someone who’s so out of place, a true menace at the same time.
The third brother played by Clarke could have been in danger of being lost in the shuffle compared to the main memorable three male leads, but thankfully Clarke isn’t forgotten about either; as the violent middle brother, he deals out the most damage and has a crazy wolf growl when the law gets close to the brother’s brewery; he doesn’t stand out against Hardy, but if it was any other film Clarke would be the most talked aspect of it.
It has to be said that Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight Rises) probably has the best agent in Hollywood; he gets third billing in the cast and yet he’s only in the film for a maximum five minutes in a small role. The two lead female characters here disappointingly get relegated to typical female fodder with Jessica Chastain (The Help) limited to a city girl looking for a quiet life, and Mia Wasikowska (Alice In Wonderland) is just the preacher’s daughter and a love interest for Jack.
The whole “they’re outlaws and heroes” tagline and aspect of the film is a bit questionable; no matter how silly it was, prohibition was still a law and had to be followed, and just because Lawless is set in the countryside it doesn’t make it any different; Rakes’ methods are extreme and dark but at the same time, he’s meant to do a job anyway he can, and The Bondurant brothers aren’t exactly presented as being totally clean, even if you ignore the illegal booze making enterprise they’ve got going. It’s a bad misfire that makes it out to be black and white, good guys and bad guys, instead of highlighting the intriguing morally grey areas Lawless shows us instead.
Australian director John Hillcoat gives Lawless an oddly Australian feel about it (not entirely surprising given his background), as the rural Chicago countryside is not dissimilar to bushland Australia in places in both tone and feeling, and what he did for last notable film, The Road (making that an utterly depressing road trip), is similarly replicated in Lawless; as what starts out as an almost feel good, “good old boys” romp, soon turns into a depressing ‘kill or be killed’ mission for the Bondurants.
Despite not being massively violent, Lawless still has it’s moments; the first Jack and Rakes fight scene is particularly horrible as he just doesn’t get a shot in and it’s unfair that the more violent Rakes gets his way. Rakes’ reaction to Jack ruffling his face later on also gets taken out on Jack’s unlucky sidekick Cricket (Dann DeHaan, Chronicle) in an intensely grim scene., but the worst has to be the taken from the real-life methods that bootleggers dealt with; as Rakes is not above tarring and feathering a man. Alive.
While not being the epic it makes itself out to be (despite still being very good in comparison to its peers, i.e. The Untouchables, it’s not the epic mob film we’re led to believe), Lawless isn’t a bad film at all; it sets a high measuring stick for the next two or three gangster films due out before the end of the year, and has a fantastic cast which is worth investing your time into (and may change your opinion of LeBeouf).
In a bulging genre of prohibition gangster films, Lawless does things differently enough to make it essential viewing.
Terry Lewis – @thatterrylewis.
