Review: Lawless

Release date: 7 September 2012
Certificate: 18
Director: John Hillcoat
Starring: Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Guy Pearce

What's the story?
In Prohibition-era America, three bootlegging brothers from backwoods Virginia find their way of life endangered by a ruthless Special Deputy (Guy Pearce) determined to crack down on their illicit activities.

What did we think?
Tough, brooding and very violent, this old-school outlaw yarn has attitude to spare as it unfolds its hard-hitting chronicle of crime and retribution. The female roles are a tad underwritten though, while some may find Hardy's Southern-fried accent even harder to decipher than Bane's dialogue in The Dark Knight Rises.

A world away from Smokey and the Bandit, the newest collaboration between Aussie director John Hillcoat and screenwriter-musician Nick Cave recalls their 2005 Western The Proposition with its portrait of siblings engaged in a struggle for power. This time, though, the brothers - a trio of rum-runners brewing hooch at the height of Prohibition - are on the same side.

That doesn't mean there aren't tensions, dominant brother Forrest (Tom Hardy) facing a challenge to his own authority from ambitious young 'un Jack (Shia LaBeouf). Once a new threat hoves into view in the form of dandyish Fed Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce), though, all differences are forgotten as they fight to keep their secret stills operational.

With LaBeouf drawn to pious beauty Mia Wasikowska and Hardy finding an admirer in Jessica Chastain's big-city damsel, it's not all guns, knives and knuckledusters. But there's still an awful lot of that in a film that more than justifies its 18 certificate while never quite rivalling genre classics like Miller's Crossing or The Untouchables.

Quirkily clad in a cardigan throughout, Hardy adds another commanding performance to his impressive CV. Shame, though, that his character is so hard to understand, even before his throat gets cut.

Verdict: Whisky galore.