Lawless

Bottom line: Brutal but not gratuitous violence, lovely cinematography and good acting make Lawless a solid crime story.

2.5/4

Lawless opens with three kids in a barn standing over a pig pen. We cycle through close-ups and extreme-closeups of the kids and a long shot of the pig. Two of the children goad the third, who holds a rifle, into shooting the pig. Reloading, the boy hobbles through the mud. He aims but cannot pull the trigger. One of the other boys lets out a sigh as he pulls a revolver out of his pants and shoots the pigs. Cut to a helicopter shot of autumnal tree tops in Virginia and an extreme long shot of a jalopy winding through an empty road.

Let me first think about Shia LeBeouf. I’m always worried when I see him in a film and Lawless is no exception. I grew up with him on Even Stevens and, in my mind, he has never escaped the goofy little brother role. The inherent problem with LaBeouf is that he breaks all immersion. When I see him in this picture, I don't think "Oh, it is a bootlegger from Virginia." I think, "Oh, it's Shia LaBeouf. Let's see if he can play this role." In Lawless, his performance was pretty good darn good. He is beat up by Special Deputy Rakes (Pearce), I thought to myself "Sheesh, I don't think I act as good as LaBeouf; that is a really convincing cry." I saw a post on Reddit the other day asking if big name stars were a distraction to a movie. I don’t think they are, well, unless the star is Shia LeBouf.

Now, Tom Hardy is a tried-and-true big, burly, quiet guy. Now that I think about it, Hardy just replays his performance from Bronson. He is a fighter. He is a man who stands for his principles. He doesn't say much and does a lot of staring. Is he calculating? Is he just drawing a blank? I don't know. Maybe that is his appeal. He is an “invincible” entity that fights against those who bring his family and friends harm and, knowing this, we assume that he is calculating whenever he silently stars.

I hesitate to say that this movie was 'pretty' because, in the words of Dave Kehr, "Translated, 'beautifully photographed' generally turns out to mean that the film contains an unusually large number of mountain ranges and/or desert plains, preferably with the sun rising or setting somewhere in the immediate vicinity...it is an easy way to make a film seem larger, more powerful, than it really is." I feel a similar way about extreme closeups: giving sad puppy dog eyes doesn't equate to a genuine emotional response. I’m lookin’ at you, Blood In, Blood Out.

How, then, am I supposed to take Lawless? Long shots and close-ups are the main two types of shots. It comes down to the question of what these shots are saying. Are they helping the story? Are they leading us to a deeper truth? Two shots stick out to me.

The first is of Jack and Forrest. They are talking in the family restaurant. Jack was just beat up by Rakes. He is out of focus, left of the frame in the foreground. Forrest, in focus, is staring out of the frame to the left. The two brothers are very close and very close to us. We understand how Jack is feeling: he is embarrassed, scared and angry. Knowing this, we don't have to focus on him. But, Forrest we don't really understand. We are in the same boat as Jack. He wants to be a part of his brother's world. Despite how close Jack is to Forrest there will always be an element of mystery.

The second shot is a long shot of the restaurant. Jack sits, crying, at a table. Forrest stands back turned at the bar. The space between the two dominate the shot. It emphasizes how far the two have grown. Forrest is standing just where he did in the earlier sequence but Jack, who has tried to forge his own path, finds himself in a similar state: broken and crying.

So these shots hint at something more but I can't quite place what. Maybe it is because of my inexperience but, well, it doesn't quite do it for me. Now, it isn't a trashy movie with beautiful pictures. I would say it is a movie with beautiful images and a pretty decent story. It isn't earth shattering but I recommend it for a weekend movie-rental or matinee.
 

Directed by John Hillcoat. Written by Nick Cave (screenplay) and Matt Bondurant (novel). Starring Tom Hardy (Forrest Bondurant), Shia LaBeouf (Jack Bondurant) and Guy Pearce (Charlie Rakes)