The Bondurant brothers rule the moonshine trade in Franklin County, Virginia during the Prohibition.   However local corruption threatens to crush them led by Special Deputy Rakes (Guy Pearce).  When younger brother Jack gets more involved in the business, it continues a chain reaction of events leading to a showdown between the corrupt and the Bondurants.  LAWLESS is an entertaining tale about family, love, and corruption.   The Bondurant brothers took a stand.   Tom Hardy is the standout actor in this movie with Guy Pearce and Gary Oldman coming at a close second.   Even though the film focuses a lot on Shia LaBeouf’s character, he is still blown away with the acting skills of Hardy and Pearce.  John Hillcoat directs one of the better movies of the year with a good score and selection of songs, but part of the credit for LAWLESS goes to songwriter/ screenwriter Nick cave who writes the movie like it is poetry with moments of romance and humor to be good companions to the action and horror in LAWLESS.  Hillcoat is able to bring alive the 1931 era of the Prohibition onto the screen thanks to a great cast and crew. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Feature audio commentary with Director John Hillcoat and author Matt Bondurant.

Six deleted scenes which mostly act as extended scenes and were cut for pacing.  They don’t add anything to the final film.

THE TRUE STORY OF THE WETTEST COUNTY IN THE WORLD- a promotional piece on the making of the movie that has interviews with cast and crew

FRANKLIN COUNTY, VA: THEN AND NOW- a quick featurette on how Franklin County, VA looks now.

THE STORY OF THE BONDURANT FAMILY-   The grandson of one of the Bondurant brothers, Matt Bondurant, shares old photos and talks about his family and novel.

“Midnight Run” music video by Willie Nelson

FINAL ANALYSIS:   LAWLESS rocks in a movie that flows like poetry in a tale of brothers, love, and their stand against corruption in the time of the Prohibition.

this review is (c)12-3-2012 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com