The reason I am reviewing the movie “Lawless” (released 2012) and starring Tom Hardy, Shia La Beouf, Jessica Chastain, Guy Pearce, and Gary Oldman is simply because it is an incredible movie. Based upon true characters who lived in Franklin County, Virginia in the 1920s described in descendent Matt Bondurant’s fact-based novel “The Wettest County in the World” [1], it’s a Prohibition-era crime drama. The drama centers around the lives of three bootlegging brothers, the Bondurant’s, Forrest (Hardy), Howard (Jason Clarke) and Jack (La Beouf). I make no excuse for centering my review around the incredible performance of Tom Hardy throughout the movie. His mastery at interpreting the character of Forrest Bondurant, the leader of the three brothers, is deceptively simple. This is enough to earn the movie the status of must be watched several times, and each time one gains a little more insight into how Hardy’s expertise in his craft does all the work for the audience. Hardy’s performance as a Virginia mountain boy is convincing enough, but when you consider the actor hails from London, England and was brought up there, it almost surpasses belief that he could transform himself into this man Forrest Bondurant with such precision.
The first several minutes of the film shows the brothers as young boys, and Australian director John Hillcoat defines the personalities of the three with clever cinematography. Oldest brother Howard and Forrest are trying to persuade the youngest brother Jack to shoot a pig, presumably to toughen him up as well as supply the family dinner that evening as the boys obviously belong to a farm community. Jack picks up the revolver and points it toward the pig. He wants to impress his older brothers by showing his bravery but he cannot bring himself. Howard takes the revolver and casually slaughters the pig. Jack is clearly woozy around violence and blood – in contrast to his brothers who are tough-as-nails country boys. This prepares us not only for the violence that will ensue but the fearlessness that will be the thing that defines the Bondurant’s position in the mountain bootlegging operations.
Next we flash forward to the 1920’s as Jack Bondurant provides the narrative that sets the scene. He tells us that Prohibition in the country between 1920 and 1933 outlawed the sale, production, importation, and transportation of alcoholic beverages – that is, supposedly. He lives in Franklin County, home to the highest volume of illegal Moonshine production anywhere in the nation. At night, the mountain forests were dotted with the flames of the stills - the alcohol being transported to cities like Chicago allowing notorious gangsters like Al Capone to become enormously wealthy as they sold and distributed a product that was in high demand despite the fact that it was against the law. Jack describes the Bondurant’s as survivors. Oldest brother Howard had been conscripted into the Great War over in Europe. The troop carrying ship he was aboard was sunk at sea. His entire battalion was wiped out – Howard was the sole survivor. This had presumably left Howard with scars – what would be called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder today – and was evidently being self medicated by Howard as we see him place a jar of sloshing Moonshine to his lips as the truck the three brothers are riding on bounces along the Virginia country roads. Next Jack tells us that when Spanish flu hit the county it killed almost everyone, including both parents. It got Forrest too, but somehow Forrest survived. These facts served to help establish a certain reputation in this mountain community – the Bondurant’s were a tough family – not just tough, but perhaps invincible.
As the truck pulls up at the county line, which is marked by a covered wooden bridge, two rifle-carrying police officers are on station, presumably to check vehicles for
