Lawless

1.5/4

Starring: Shia LeBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Dane DeHaan, Gary Oldman

Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence, Language, and Some Sexuality/Nudity

Memo to John Hillcoat: making your actors growl their dialogue, slapping mud and dirt on them, and filling your movie with lots of brutality does not automatically make your gritty movie good.  It may make it gritty, but you need solid performances, characterizations and a comprehensible story to make spending two hours watching your film worth someone's time.

I was not a fan of John Hillcoat's debut film, "The Proposition" (which, incidentally, also starred Guy Pearce and Noah Taylor).  To me, it was ruined by its sense of self-importance.  Hillcoat, and his screenwriter Nick Cave (who also wrote the script for this film), were convinced that they were making an important and groundbreaking "classic" film when in fact they were merely regurgitating tired cliches.  With this movie, the pretension has been toned down, but the plot rarely makes sense and you'd be hard pressed to find a character with more than two-dimensions.

The film (which is based on a true story) is set in Franklin County, Virginia.  Prohibition is in effect, but that doesn't stop the residents from making moonshine with whatever materials they can find.  The leaders in the business are the Bondurant brothers (at least I think): war vet and loose cannon Howard (Clarke), quiet and intense Forrest (Hardy) and young Jack (LaBeouf).  They slide by the law because they provide the cops with moonshine.  That all changes when Charlie Rakes (Pearce), an effeminate monster, strolls into town intending to clean up (or force the moonshiners to pay protection fees...I thought I heard both).  Of course, the Bondurants don't like this idea, and it isn't long before tensions between them and Rakes boil over.

Hillcoat wants this film to be a sort of gritty "Robin Hood."  But maybe I'm wrong, since it seems more like "The Patriot."  The plot is goes everywhere with no rhyme or reason and the tone so varies wildly from one scene to the next that I don't think even Hillcoat himself has any idea what he wants this film to be.  This is a mess.

But the worst offense is completely wasting a talented cast.  Shia LeBeouf, a talented young actor who is seeking to establish himself as an actor rather than a Disney kid or a prop in a "Transformers movie," is quite good as Jack, who is desperate to prove himself to his brothers.  Sadly, he's given nothing to work with.  Tom Hardy is awful, however.  I've been a fan of Hardy's since I saw him in "Star Trek: Nemisis," long before he became famous after starring in "Inception."  Hardy is a versatile actor who thrives when playing intense characters (although he can play lighter fare, like in "This Means War").  Hardy radiates intensity, but every time he opens his mouth (which is not often, thankfully), he speaks in a low croak.  I understood more of his dialogue as Bane.  Jason Clarke fades into the background.  Guy Pearce is suitably vicious, but he's not given a lot to work with.  The women fare worse.  Neither Jessica Chastain nor Mia Wasikowska have anything substantial to do.  Chastain simply stands around, uttering the occasional line of dialogue and trying to develop a romance with Forrest without any dialogue or direction.  Wasikowska at least has some dialogue, although the romantic subplot between her and LaBeouf is extraneous.  It is, however, the best thing in the movie.  The two actors have chemistry; they just need a better movie to explore it.  Gary Oldman is on screen for so little that if you blink twice you'll miss him altogether.

Movies like this are supposed to leave you reeling from the gut-punch impact that they have on the viewer.  Instead, I left the film feeling pissed off and a little depressed.  Not a good sign, Mr. Hillcoat.