While I do love a gangster-ish film that is based on actual events, this one just kind of fell flat. With a star-studded cast, a decent budget, and nearly 3 years in production, it seems it should have been a sure thing but it's just kind of average really.
[source](https://art-s.nflximg.net/9136d/39b0d5eec964140016d4de1f4c0900c7b629136d.jpg)Unlike a lot of people out there, I actually kinda like Shia LaBeouf. I could do without his attempts of getting involved in political commentary, but that is also true of all celebrities. I think he is talented and kind of shot himself in the foot in recent years. Anyway, I hope he makes a comeback. The film also stars Tom Hardy and Guy Pearce, who, like LaBeouf, are particularly incredible in this film. The thing that I was most excited about was that the promotional materials focus heavily on the fact that Gary Oldman is in Lawless.... they fail to mention that he gets like 2 minutes of screen-time and I feel like that was a dirty trick on their part.
I'm not sure how else they could have involved Gary's character Floyd Banner in the film more, but it was bittersweet to only get like 15 lines out of the guy.
The film is very loosely based on real events (meaning that almost all of it is made up) and is based on the lives of the Bondurant brothers Forrest, Howard, and Jack. During the prohibition times in the United States, they were one of many moonshine operations that operated out of rural areas in Virginia. The government tried to crack down on this during a strange part of american history where all alcohol was outlawed but these areas of hillbillies were early Libertarian communities that were not going to be told what to do by the government and would rise up as a community to collectively fight any government attempts to take what the community agrees is "their way of life."
[source](https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2012/05/Lawless_a_l.jpg)The government actually kind of recognized that trying to fight an entire county with force was going to be a lost cause, and therefore didn't aggressively try to stop them from producing moonshine... until they started exporting it and making a lot of money in the process.
A "Special Deputy" named Charley Rakes is sent in to contain the problem, and he operates in a ruthless fashion and doesn't implement very many legal methods in his attempt to shut down the booze situation.
[source](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/images/stories/FILM/Emma_Simmonds/Lawless%20-%20Guy.jpeg)
I don't recall seeing Guy Pearce in much before this film, but i will be seeking him out in the future as his portrayal was extremely well done So I've said almost entirely positive things yet I called the film "average" and "boring".... what gives?
Unfortunately, this film is plagued with a script that is based around a rather small amount of source material. There are only 2 or 3 things that actually happen in the movie, and the rest just seems like a tremendous amount of filler. They threw 2 rather unnecessary love stories in there and I feel that when a movie goes down this road that they are kind of struggling to put together 90 minutes of material. It really shows.
When the action is rolling, the film is gripping. However, this times that this is actually occurring are few and far between.
It was nice to see Shia LaBeouf in something because I feel bad for the dude even though I think he is a bit of a douchebag. I hope he can drop the "-ivist" portion of activist lifestyle and get back to what he is good at, if Hollywood will still have him.
Nearly everyone in this film is just perfect for their role but unfortunately there is no denying that it isn't great. I suppose if you have completely run out of other stuff to watch and have already watched all of Dead to Me, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul, then maybe you could watch this while playing on your phone at the same time. Unfortunately, that is what it would take.
