Lawless

I was really anticipating this film, and probably not for the reasons you may think. My #2 reason was content. I love watching stories from this era and the fact it is based on true events doesn't hurt either plus it had that gangster quality about it, but the #1 reason is Tom Hardy. I'm not sure anyone in Hollywood commands the screen as he does right now. He plays Forrest Bondurant. A bootlegger in Franklin Virginia during prohibition. Luckily for him and his outfit, he lives in a small town and local authorities pay him no mind. Probably because they appreciate the shine he produces as much as the next person. Forrest is a no frills guy. He lives quiet as long as he is not pushed. His crew consists of his two brothers, Howard and Jack(LaBeouf). Jack has bigger dreams than what Forrest is allowing, but Jack must choose his own path. Forrest tries to keep a level head about Jack, but knows jack may have to learn the hard way. Things are fine till Forrest declines to give new officials a kick back on profits he earned, so he finds ways to run around them. When Special Inspector Rakes (Guy Pearce) shows up to crack skulls things begin to change. He is as ruthless as he is ugly. The slicked back hair with a strange middle part that spreads a good 3/4 of an inch apart to his sadistic sociopath attitude, and I think what made him look more scary are the lack of eyebrows. He feels he is above the law in enforcing the law, and he frightens people, but not Forrest. This is a great story of family ties, illegal business, and the lengths some will go to protect what they hold dear. Beautifully filmed and violently gruesome. It reminded me of gangster films of yesteryear, and I LOVED it!!! It was better than I expected it could be and for fans (Male) of Jessica Chastain, you are in for a treat. She is glowingly elegant. Beautiful as can be and she delivers a little treat that I didn't see coming. As much as Tom Hardy takes over, even at second billed behind LaBeouf, it is actually Pearce who steals the show. Totally demented and brilliant. Could get him Oscar Gold. And for those of you excited to see another brilliant performance from Gary Oldman, you will not be disappointed. With that said, I expected more from him than 3 small scenes that really had very little bearing on the bigger picture of things. All around fun film that I recommend.

NBM rates Lawless - Phenomenal