In 1931, the Bondurant brothers of Franklin County, Virginia, run a multipurpose backwoods establishment that hides their true business — bootlegging. Middle brother Forrest is the brain of the operation; older Howard is the brawn, and younger Jack, the lookout. Though the local police have taken bribes and left the brothers alone, a violent war erupts when a sadistic lawman from Chicago arrives and tries to shut down the Bondurants operation.
Shia LaBeouf
Jack Bondurant
Tom Hardy
Forrest Bondurant
Gary Oldman
Floyd Banner
Guy Pearce
Charlie Rakes
Jason Clarke
Howard Bondurant
Jessica Chastain
Maggie Beauford
Mia Wasikowska
Bertha Minnix
Dane DeHaan
Cricket Pate
Lew Temple
Deputy Henry Abshire
Chris McGarry
Danny
Tim Tolin
Mason Wardell
Marcus Hester
Deputy Jeff Richards
Bill Camp
Sheriff Hodges
Alex Van
Tizwell Minnix
Noah Taylor
Gummy Walsh
Mark Ashworth
Hophead #1
Tom Proctor
Hophead #2
Bruce McKinnon
Jimmy Turner
Eric Mendenhall
Spoons Rivard
Toni Byrd
Ida Belle
Robert T. Smith
Young Jack
Jake Nash
Young Forrest
William J. Harrison
Young Howard (as William Harrison)
Joyce Baxter
Aunt Winnie
Jeff Braun
Doctor
Malinda Baker
Young Black Girl
Tom Turbiville
Goon #1
Chad Randall
Mugger #1
Terry Keasler
Mugger #2
Duncan Nicholson
Junior
Ron Clinton Smith
Bootlegger
Anna House
Old Mountain Woman
Ricky Muse
Bootlegger #2
Peter Krulewitch
Stogie Pete
Director
John Hillcoat
Novel
Matt Bondurant
Screenplay
Nick Cave
June 30, 2018
6
Well, as the blurb says, Lawless is the true (hmmm ?) story about the Bondurant brothers. This is one of the movies that my dear wife picked up. I had no clue concerning this movie until we watched it. It turned out be an enjoyable movie evening. This is a well done movie indeed although I felt like it could have been an even better movie at the end.
Acting, scenery, general story is all quite good. Well the story is okay. It is not exactly ground breaking but rather a standard bootlegging kind of story. The new deputy is a real asshole to the extent of being somewhat unbelievable. Guy Pearce plays the role well though. That goes for the rest of the main cast as well. It is a well-acted movie.
It kind of drags on a bit though. The real action where they finally take on the asshole deputy is not until the very end of the movie. Okay, that is perhaps understandable but until then the movie is quite slow. I would not have minded to see both the older Bondurant brothers being a bit more into the action but instead we mostly follow Jack (Shia LaBeouf) on his various more or less silly escapades and romantic adventures which, not very surprisingly, ends up with him leading previously mentioned asshole deputy right to their illegal booze factory…sigh! I am not 100% convinced that you can survive having your throat cut by the way. I think that was rather silly.
It is a good movie and of a lot higher quality than most although perhaps not exactly my style of movie and I have to say that I thought the ending, with Forrest blundering into the frozen lake, was rather meh. Still, it is worth 6 out o10 stars but not more as far as I am concerned.