It’s 1931 and we’re supposed to believe Shia LaBeouf is a moonshiner, along with his two brothers – Tom Hardy and Jason Clarke.
It’s 1931 and we’re supposed to believe Shia LaBeouf is a moonshiner, along with his two brothers – Tom Hardy and Jason Clarke.
The times, they are a changing, and the once simple life of a backwoods, Virginia foothills moonshiner family is about to be turned upside down when Guy Pierce comes in as a crooked deputy set on extorting or shutting down all illegal booze business in the Commonwealth.
From there, you’ll experience a vapor thin plot and some fairly brutal violence.
The stellar cast – the afore-mentioned Hardy and Pierce, and a few cameos by Gary Oldman as a Chicago mob man, steal the show.
Sadly, however, we’re supposed to accept LaBeouf as our lead. I’m not sure if it’s my ingrained image of the former-child star as the kid from Holes or Even Stevens, or the lasting image of his nauseating performance as Sam Witwicky in the Transformers series, but everything about LaBeouf just makes me want to punch him in the face.
Luckily, you’ll see the actor take about as many punches to the face as your heart can handle in Lawless.
I personally believe the image of Guy Pierce beating the sniveling, weeping, begging-for-his-life LaBeouf to a bloody pulp will keep me warm in the winters.
Guy Pearce beats Shia LaBeouf from Kaprah91 on Vimeo.
I can’t help but wonder if that’s why he was cast in this role – LaBeouf plays the mincing, weak youngest brother in this family saga, and if his acting skills play to any aspect, it’s the great feeling people must get watching Shia getting punched in the goddamned face by superior actors.
But back to why I’m going to recommend this movie.
The blood, sweat, and moonshine soaked soundtrack (obviously inspired by Nick Cave who penned the screen play) is amazing.
A scene where LaBeouf tries to woo a girl in a backwoods, ritual-heavy church is set to the score of dozens of droning voices. The tone is somewhere between a hymn and a satanic chant, and it left a lasting impact on me.
A bluegrass version of the Velvet Underground’s ‘White Light/White Heat’ lays in the background of the most successful times for these hillbilly-shiners: the dancey-track gives a sound to souped up model-t’s as they barrel over the foot hills with lawmen at their heels.
And of course you get some Nick Cave vocals in there from time to time.
Sadly, you’ll spend most of the movies 115 minutes wondering where this family, and this movie about them, is going. It’s got exciting points, and you’ll wish every scene with LaBeouf featured more Hardy or Pierce instead.
Lawless feels a bit ham-fisted – as if Nick Cave himself called up the stars of the film and asked them to play roles no matter the script or actual screen play. Scenes feel a bit forced. There’s a bit of romance, but I can’t for the life of me remember why or how it even impacted the story.
But considering what else is on Netflix right now, you could do much much worse.
