In late August of this year, the movie Lawless was released in theatres. Tom Hardy, Shia LeBouf, Gary Oldman and company star in a true story filled with wild moonshine runs, desperation, and determination. During prohibition, bootlegging alcohol was a highly profitable business venture. In Lawless, Forrest Bondurant(Hardy) develops an efficient moonshining network, which in fact, becomes so well-known that the local authorites are forced to resort to the big guns, aka Charley Rakes. Guy Pearce plays an equally confident and brutal role as a government investigator with a very clear intention - take Forrest Bondurant and his miscreant brothers away from this town, dead or alive...
It has become routine for me now to assess a movie as I'm watching it to try and discover what the director is developing. This was very easy during Lawless because of how thoroughly the brotherhood of the Bondurants was portrayed. The bond of the three brothers is without a doubt the driving force behind the film, as they persevere through countless attacks by Rakes' goons and emerge victorious against all odds. Take away the plot events and you still have a strong enough display of brotherly love for a decent movie in its self.
Obviously director John Hillcoat elected to include a plot though, which truly allows his film to soar. He brings the brothers business from carefree and flourishing through trials of unimaginable grit all to come down to a final stand against the infamous Charley Rakes. Hillcoat's take on western-turned-gangster is wonderfully fresh and gained my approval.
Above all, this film was entertaining. In the world of movie critics, it is too easy to simply say you enjoyed it because it was entertaining but I think that is because the true definition of entertainment has been smeared by simple-minded movies. Lawless succeeded on a deep enough level to pass my tests of plot and driving force so I consider it a very well done movie.
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