Tom Hardy Shia LaBeouf Guy Pearce's Lawless Premiere
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
"Lawless" finds order in chaos
After the release of "Gangster Squad" got pushed out to next year, I consoled myself with the knowledge that I could still get my old-timey ne'er-do-well fix off of "Lawless."
Sure, Depression-era Virginia wilderness isn't quite the substitute for the glamorous L.A. glory years, but watching Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy and Jessica Chastain chew the scenery (which is rife with bootlegging, corruption and backwoods intrigue, might I add) for just under two hours can't possibly be too much of a let-down.
Sadly, I think I may have put this bottle of movie moonshine on too high of a pedestal. Its spirits are well-intentioned, but it has all the ups and downs of a rail alcohol bender. I didn't wind up with a headache, but I did leave the theater wondering what happened to that attractive, intriguing film I thought I was spending my time with.
Based on a novel/true story from Depression-era Franklin County, Va., "Lawless" is the story of the supposedly indestructible Bondurant brothers and their bootlegging ring. After their steady local enterprise falls into conflict with corrupt Chicago deputy Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) and the encroaching influences of gangster magnate Floyd Banner (Gary Oldman), Jack (Shia LaBeouf), Forrest (Tom Hardy) and Howard (Jason Clarke) fall deeper into the illicit world and its deadly consequences.
With all these characters running around getting into trouble, the plot was bound to be a mess. An ably managed mess to be sure, but a mess nonetheless. "Lawless" focuses mainly on Jack – even taking him as a narrator when necessary – as he rises in the family ranks from timid shipment driver to a showboating wheeler and dealer. The problem with this approach, however, is two-fold.
First, he doesn't make for a very interesting or relatable character. Almost all of Jack's success is made on dumb luck and rash judgements, but he plays it off like it was all part of the plan – in particular to his trusting friend and partner Cricket (Dane DeHaan) and love interest, Bertha (Mia Wasikowska). Second, he leeches screen time away from Rakes' and Banner's storylines, which reduces them to bit parts that are roughly explained and consequently end up clogging up the film's progression.
It's a shame the plot is forced to jump around so much between characters to keep things going. At its heart, "Lawless" is a good story with quality performances. Despite the sheer amount of stuff going on, director John Hillcoat ("The Road") keeps the frenetic pace in check and still manages to paint a rich picture of the era. Tom Hardy continues to log esteem with his turn as Forrest, and Chastain's role as the enigmatic Maggie Beauford adds a touch of high-class luster to the rustic backdrop.
In spite of its shortcomings, "Lawless" emerges strong, thanks in no small part to the sheer prowess of its cast. The film is a lot like a spinning plate show – if any one of the plates go down, the show turns to chaos and the act is ruined. But, its many actors manage to keep a firm command of their characters and carry the plot through to the end (regardless of the length of their time on screen). It's a tenuous balance, but it's just enough to prevent "Lawless" from crashing to the ground.
Source
Sure, Depression-era Virginia wilderness isn't quite the substitute for the glamorous L.A. glory years, but watching Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy and Jessica Chastain chew the scenery (which is rife with bootlegging, corruption and backwoods intrigue, might I add) for just under two hours can't possibly be too much of a let-down.
Sadly, I think I may have put this bottle of movie moonshine on too high of a pedestal. Its spirits are well-intentioned, but it has all the ups and downs of a rail alcohol bender. I didn't wind up with a headache, but I did leave the theater wondering what happened to that attractive, intriguing film I thought I was spending my time with.
Based on a novel/true story from Depression-era Franklin County, Va., "Lawless" is the story of the supposedly indestructible Bondurant brothers and their bootlegging ring. After their steady local enterprise falls into conflict with corrupt Chicago deputy Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) and the encroaching influences of gangster magnate Floyd Banner (Gary Oldman), Jack (Shia LaBeouf), Forrest (Tom Hardy) and Howard (Jason Clarke) fall deeper into the illicit world and its deadly consequences.
With all these characters running around getting into trouble, the plot was bound to be a mess. An ably managed mess to be sure, but a mess nonetheless. "Lawless" focuses mainly on Jack – even taking him as a narrator when necessary – as he rises in the family ranks from timid shipment driver to a showboating wheeler and dealer. The problem with this approach, however, is two-fold.
First, he doesn't make for a very interesting or relatable character. Almost all of Jack's success is made on dumb luck and rash judgements, but he plays it off like it was all part of the plan – in particular to his trusting friend and partner Cricket (Dane DeHaan) and love interest, Bertha (Mia Wasikowska). Second, he leeches screen time away from Rakes' and Banner's storylines, which reduces them to bit parts that are roughly explained and consequently end up clogging up the film's progression.
It's a shame the plot is forced to jump around so much between characters to keep things going. At its heart, "Lawless" is a good story with quality performances. Despite the sheer amount of stuff going on, director John Hillcoat ("The Road") keeps the frenetic pace in check and still manages to paint a rich picture of the era. Tom Hardy continues to log esteem with his turn as Forrest, and Chastain's role as the enigmatic Maggie Beauford adds a touch of high-class luster to the rustic backdrop.
In spite of its shortcomings, "Lawless" emerges strong, thanks in no small part to the sheer prowess of its cast. The film is a lot like a spinning plate show – if any one of the plates go down, the show turns to chaos and the act is ruined. But, its many actors manage to keep a firm command of their characters and carry the plot through to the end (regardless of the length of their time on screen). It's a tenuous balance, but it's just enough to prevent "Lawless" from crashing to the ground.
Source
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
During the Prohibition Era of the 1920’s & 1930’s, things were really bad. Gangsters ran the streets in the cities (especially Chicago) and when they started to make their way out to the rural areas that export moonshine, that’s when it got really, really ugly. In Franklin County, Virginia, dubbed by one fictional reporter as the “Wettest County in the World” (for the kids that don’t know, wet in this sense is not like going into the pool, unless that pool is made of booze), the Bondurant brothers dominated the moonshine business. Eldest brother, Forrest Bondurant (Tom Hardy), was the ringleader of the operation; middle brother Howard (Jason Clarke), was the brawn and youngest brother Jack (Shia LaBeouf) was the driver. Jack always wanted to run his own operation and make some real money but Forrest saw him as weak. That is not entirely true but when a test of strength would present itself, Jack would always submit to the opposition.
The Bondurants and the lawmen of Franklin County had an understanding, as long as they law got their share, they could operate. That all changed when Special Deputy Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) rolls into town to crack down on the bootleggers of the land. Hailing straight from Gangster Town, U.S.A (a.k.a. Chicago), Rakes made a beeline to the Bondurant boys to show them who’s in charge. Forrest does not yield to anyone, making him enemy #1 on Rakes’s list.
Another gem that rolled in from Chicago looking to start anew (and a job), is sassy vixen, Maggie Beauford (Jessica Chastain). She blindsides Forrest into giving her a job at the family diner, which now puts her in danger from the ones that want to bring the Bondurants down.
When Forrest is viciously attacked one night by some out of town thugs that tried to hurt Maggie, Jack and Howard are left to keep the family business going. Will Jack be able to use this as an opportunity to break free from Forrest? Will Rakes be able to take down the Bondurants for once for all? Will Franklin County take back control from the mob that has invaded their area or will it fall into dangerous hands?
When a film that’s based on a true story/book adaptation comes out, it either can be really good or really bad. Lawless is one of those films that hovers in between good and bad, it’s just average. Based on the true story of the Bondurant family in the book “The Wettest County in the World”, written by Jack’s grandson Matt Bondurant, the book is told from 3 perspectives rather than just one (Shia LaBeouf’s) in the film. There’s nothing particularly outstanding in terms of groundbreaking filmmaking, as the pacing of the story is a tad on the slow end, but the acting performances as an ensemble are superb. Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Guy Pierce and Gary Oldman, all give knock out performances but Shia LaBeouf’s character, although supposed to be the weak brother, was too inept. The most under utilized character was Gary Oldman’s mobster Floyd Banner. Oldman is such a fantastic actor, it was a shame they didn’t have more back-story included in the final cut.
What would have been really cool, is to go into the history a little more about the bootlegging and what stems from today out of that era. I remember seeing recently a documentary series on the History Channel about Prohibition and how what we know as NASCAR started back then from the bootlegger’s supped up cars, racing them on the weekends. This film is heavy on the violence, not sure if they were trying to make it more Scorsese – esq, but it does show a lot of blood.
Source
The Bondurants and the lawmen of Franklin County had an understanding, as long as they law got their share, they could operate. That all changed when Special Deputy Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) rolls into town to crack down on the bootleggers of the land. Hailing straight from Gangster Town, U.S.A (a.k.a. Chicago), Rakes made a beeline to the Bondurant boys to show them who’s in charge. Forrest does not yield to anyone, making him enemy #1 on Rakes’s list.
Another gem that rolled in from Chicago looking to start anew (and a job), is sassy vixen, Maggie Beauford (Jessica Chastain). She blindsides Forrest into giving her a job at the family diner, which now puts her in danger from the ones that want to bring the Bondurants down.
When Forrest is viciously attacked one night by some out of town thugs that tried to hurt Maggie, Jack and Howard are left to keep the family business going. Will Jack be able to use this as an opportunity to break free from Forrest? Will Rakes be able to take down the Bondurants for once for all? Will Franklin County take back control from the mob that has invaded their area or will it fall into dangerous hands?
When a film that’s based on a true story/book adaptation comes out, it either can be really good or really bad. Lawless is one of those films that hovers in between good and bad, it’s just average. Based on the true story of the Bondurant family in the book “The Wettest County in the World”, written by Jack’s grandson Matt Bondurant, the book is told from 3 perspectives rather than just one (Shia LaBeouf’s) in the film. There’s nothing particularly outstanding in terms of groundbreaking filmmaking, as the pacing of the story is a tad on the slow end, but the acting performances as an ensemble are superb. Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Guy Pierce and Gary Oldman, all give knock out performances but Shia LaBeouf’s character, although supposed to be the weak brother, was too inept. The most under utilized character was Gary Oldman’s mobster Floyd Banner. Oldman is such a fantastic actor, it was a shame they didn’t have more back-story included in the final cut.
What would have been really cool, is to go into the history a little more about the bootlegging and what stems from today out of that era. I remember seeing recently a documentary series on the History Channel about Prohibition and how what we know as NASCAR started back then from the bootlegger’s supped up cars, racing them on the weekends. This film is heavy on the violence, not sure if they were trying to make it more Scorsese – esq, but it does show a lot of blood.
Source
Monday, 27 August 2012
Lawless critics review
The action in the film is set in the American South during Prohibition and the Great Depression. The game's story - the family Bondurant, three brothers, Jack, Forrest and Howard, are engaged in prohibited while business bootlegging. Optimistic Jack, the youngest of the brothers, hoping to earn money through bootlegging and impress his girlfriend Bert. At the same time, Forrest, on the contrary, set up very dark, it is silent and suspicious, and Howard also often have to deal with the enemies of the illegal family business, which act in the face of corrupt local police.
Sunday, 26 August 2012
Jessica Chastain & Tom Hardy: 'Lawless' Premiere!
Jessica Chastain glimmers in gold on the red carpet at the premiere of her film Lawless during the 2012 Cannes Film Festival on Saturday (May 19) in Cannes, France.
The Oscar-nominated actress was joined by her co-stars Tom Hardy and Mia Wasikowska, who was gorgeous in a J. Mendel plum textured silk cloque deep v-neck gown.
Jessica and Mia also met up with co-star Shia LaBeouf earlier in the day for a photo call!
Lawless is a gangster tale inspired by the true life stories told in author Matt Bondurant‘s novel “The Wettest County in the World.”
Source
The Oscar-nominated actress was joined by her co-stars Tom Hardy and Mia Wasikowska, who was gorgeous in a J. Mendel plum textured silk cloque deep v-neck gown.
Jessica and Mia also met up with co-star Shia LaBeouf earlier in the day for a photo call!
Lawless is a gangster tale inspired by the true life stories told in author Matt Bondurant‘s novel “The Wettest County in the World.”
Source
The Wettest County in the World: A Novel Based on a True Story
Based on the true story of Matt Bondurant's grandfather and two granduncles, "The Wettest County in the World" is a gripping tale of brotherhood, greed, and murder. The Bondurant Boys were a notorious gang of roughnecks and moonshiners who ran liquor through Franklin County, Virginia, during Prohibition and in the years after. Forrest, the eldest brother, is fierce, mythically indestructible, and the consummate businessman; Howard, the middle brother, is an ox of a man besieged by the horrors he witnessed in the Great War; and Jack, the youngest, has a taste for luxury and a dream to get out of Franklin. Driven and haunted, these men forge a business, fall in love, and struggle to stay afloat as they watch their family die, their father's business fail, and the world they know crumble beneath the Depression and drought.
White mule, white lightning, firewater, popskull, wild cat, stump whiskey, or rotgut -- whatever you called it, Franklin County was awash in moonshine in the 1920s. When Sherwood Anderson, the journalist and author of "Winesburg, Ohio," was covering a story there, he christened it the "wettest county in the world." In the twilight of his career, Anderson finds himself driving along dusty red roads trying to find the Bondurant brothers, piece together the clues linking them to "The Great Franklin County Moonshine Conspiracy," and break open the silence that shrouds Franklin County.
In vivid, muscular prose, Matt Bondurant brings these men -- their dark deeds, their long silences, their deep desires -- to life. His understanding of the passion, violence, and desperation at the center of this world is both heartbreaking and magnificent.
Buy now!
Source
John Hillcoat’s Lawless Bumped to August 31st
John Hillcoat’s Prohibition-era drama The Wettest County has been pushed back from April 20th to August 31st. Nick Cave (The Proposition) wrote the script based Matt Bondourant‘s novel about two brothers (played by Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy) who become bootleggers in the South during Prohibition. In addition to LaBeouf and Hardy, the outstanding cast also includes Mia Wasikowska, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce, Dane DeHaan, and Jessica Chastain.
With this cast and this premise, it seemed odd that the Weinstein Company would schedule it to April 20th, but the August 31st date doesn’t make much sense either. Hit the jump for positives and negatives of the new date.
April 20th seemed an odd time to schedule the flick but we simply assumed that while the film may be good, it wasn’t a movie that would appeal to Academy voters. However, the August 31st date is troublesome because Labor Day weekend is one of the slowest box office weekends of the year. Audiences are worn out on summer fare and they’re not yet willing to leap into fall film-going. The Help was an exception, and you have to keep in mind that it was based off a ridiculously popular book.
However, there could be an upside to the new release date. The Venice Film Festival is also on August 29th so it’s possible The Weinstein Company want to set the release alongside a major festival (a la Contagion). There’s also the benefit of putting it after The Dark Knight Rises, so journalists can potentially ask Oldman and Hardy about Hillcoat’s movie.
Or TWC could just be burying it like they did with Hillcoat’s previous movie, The Road (although I’m not sure the best time to release a movie that redefined the word “bleak”).
Right now The Wettest County‘s only competition is the thriller 7500 starring Leslie Bibb and Ryan Kwanten, and the horror flick The Possession starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick. Based on star power alone, The Wettest County has the edge to win the weekend, but how much will it make?
Source
With this cast and this premise, it seemed odd that the Weinstein Company would schedule it to April 20th, but the August 31st date doesn’t make much sense either. Hit the jump for positives and negatives of the new date.
April 20th seemed an odd time to schedule the flick but we simply assumed that while the film may be good, it wasn’t a movie that would appeal to Academy voters. However, the August 31st date is troublesome because Labor Day weekend is one of the slowest box office weekends of the year. Audiences are worn out on summer fare and they’re not yet willing to leap into fall film-going. The Help was an exception, and you have to keep in mind that it was based off a ridiculously popular book.
However, there could be an upside to the new release date. The Venice Film Festival is also on August 29th so it’s possible The Weinstein Company want to set the release alongside a major festival (a la Contagion). There’s also the benefit of putting it after The Dark Knight Rises, so journalists can potentially ask Oldman and Hardy about Hillcoat’s movie.
Or TWC could just be burying it like they did with Hillcoat’s previous movie, The Road (although I’m not sure the best time to release a movie that redefined the word “bleak”).
Right now The Wettest County‘s only competition is the thriller 7500 starring Leslie Bibb and Ryan Kwanten, and the horror flick The Possession starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick. Based on star power alone, The Wettest County has the edge to win the weekend, but how much will it make?
Source
Shia LaBeouf officially signs on to the project, joining "Inception" star Tom Hardy in the "Lawless"
Jessica Chastain will star opposite Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy in The Wettest County, a Prohibition Era-set drama from Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher’s Red Wagon production.
The casting puts the project, being directed by John Hillcoat (The Road) on the runway to production, with the producers eyeing a February 2011 start.
The movie has been a longtime coming together, and has remained highly coveted amongst the younger set for its meaty roles and colorful setting. The project has experimented with various acting configurations on its road to production but LaBeouf has remained the throughline.
LaBeouf had stamped Wettest as a passion project and stuck with it even as names such as Ryan Gosling, Paul Dano and Scarlett Johansson came and went as Wettest segued from being set up at a studio to fledgling indie to finally finding financing; in this case, via Michael Benaroya of Benaroya Pictures, the company behind the Sundance-bound Kevin Spacey finance drama Margin Call, and Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Productions (True Grit).
The pieces came together just as LaBeouf wrapped up a long shoot for Transformers: Dark of the Moon and was looking for something more scaled down in scope yet weighty in range.
Based on the novel The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant, and on his grandfather and two great-uncles, the true gangsters story tells of the Bondurants boys, bootlegging siblings taking the law into their own hands in Prohibition-era Virginia while making a run for the American Dream.
Chastain will play Hardy’s love interest, a big city woman now living in a small town who at one time was mixed up with gangsters.
Nick Cave, who fronts the band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds as well side band Grinderman, adapted the novel and will compose the music. Cave worked with Hillcoat on The Proposition.
Paranormal Activity producer Jason Blum is exec producing with Scott Hanson via their duo’s Blum/Hanson/Allen shingle. Also executive producing along with Rob Barnum and Laura Rister of Benaroya Pictures as well as Red Wagon’s Rachel Shane. CAA reps the package.
Chastain, repped by Paradigm and Mosaic, is one of Hollywood’s rising starlets, with a slew of high-profile projects coming out in the new year. She plays Brad Pitt’s wife in Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life and appears with Sam Worthington and Chloe Moretz in The Fields, a thriller directed by Ami Mann. She recently wrapped The Help, DreamWorks’ adaptation of the Kathryn Stockett novel.
LaBeouf is repped by CAA, John Crosby Management and attorney Matthew Saver.
Source
The casting puts the project, being directed by John Hillcoat (The Road) on the runway to production, with the producers eyeing a February 2011 start.
The movie has been a longtime coming together, and has remained highly coveted amongst the younger set for its meaty roles and colorful setting. The project has experimented with various acting configurations on its road to production but LaBeouf has remained the throughline.
LaBeouf had stamped Wettest as a passion project and stuck with it even as names such as Ryan Gosling, Paul Dano and Scarlett Johansson came and went as Wettest segued from being set up at a studio to fledgling indie to finally finding financing; in this case, via Michael Benaroya of Benaroya Pictures, the company behind the Sundance-bound Kevin Spacey finance drama Margin Call, and Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Productions (True Grit).
The pieces came together just as LaBeouf wrapped up a long shoot for Transformers: Dark of the Moon and was looking for something more scaled down in scope yet weighty in range.
Based on the novel The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant, and on his grandfather and two great-uncles, the true gangsters story tells of the Bondurants boys, bootlegging siblings taking the law into their own hands in Prohibition-era Virginia while making a run for the American Dream.
Chastain will play Hardy’s love interest, a big city woman now living in a small town who at one time was mixed up with gangsters.
Nick Cave, who fronts the band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds as well side band Grinderman, adapted the novel and will compose the music. Cave worked with Hillcoat on The Proposition.
Paranormal Activity producer Jason Blum is exec producing with Scott Hanson via their duo’s Blum/Hanson/Allen shingle. Also executive producing along with Rob Barnum and Laura Rister of Benaroya Pictures as well as Red Wagon’s Rachel Shane. CAA reps the package.
Chastain, repped by Paradigm and Mosaic, is one of Hollywood’s rising starlets, with a slew of high-profile projects coming out in the new year. She plays Brad Pitt’s wife in Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life and appears with Sam Worthington and Chloe Moretz in The Fields, a thriller directed by Ami Mann. She recently wrapped The Help, DreamWorks’ adaptation of the Kathryn Stockett novel.
LaBeouf is repped by CAA, John Crosby Management and attorney Matthew Saver.
Source
Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy in Lawless
The hot young acting pair will team up to make "The Wettest County in the World," a Prohibtion-era dramatic thriller from director John Hillcoat ("The Road"), according to two people familiar with the film.
LaBeouf, who had previously been mentioned in conjunction with the project, and Hardy, who hadn't, will both be taking a turn to period pieces. LaBeouf did star in the golf movie "The Greatest Game Ever Played" but is of course best known for action movies and thrillers.
Hardy, meanwhile, was in adaptations such as "Wuthering Heights" and "Black Hawk Down" but is best known for his role as the agent Eames in "Inception" this summer, and he has an as yet unrevealed part in "The Dark Knight Rises." (He's also currently shooting the Reese Witherspoon romantic comedy "This Means War.")
Nick Cave wrote the screenplay for "County" (speaking of teen pinups, albeit from another era). The film is based on a novel from Matt Bondurant about a family of Prohibition-era bootleggers, and crimes committed by and against them. The movie, an independently financed project that's being produced by the producers of "Jarhead" and "Girl, Interrupted" and executive produced by the man behind "Paranormal Activity," aims to begin shooting in the spring.
The firming up of LaBeouf and Hardy for "County" does put a pin, at least for the moment, in "College Republicans," in which LaBeouf was to play a young Lee Atwater and, sources say, Paul Dano a young Karl Rove, in the "Social Network"-esque story about the two conservative kingmakers in college.
That would have been juicy. But to see LaBeouf and Hardy as bootleggers may be worth the wait.
-- Steven Zeitchik
Zeitchik
LaBeouf, who had previously been mentioned in conjunction with the project, and Hardy, who hadn't, will both be taking a turn to period pieces. LaBeouf did star in the golf movie "The Greatest Game Ever Played" but is of course best known for action movies and thrillers.
Hardy, meanwhile, was in adaptations such as "Wuthering Heights" and "Black Hawk Down" but is best known for his role as the agent Eames in "Inception" this summer, and he has an as yet unrevealed part in "The Dark Knight Rises." (He's also currently shooting the Reese Witherspoon romantic comedy "This Means War.")
Nick Cave wrote the screenplay for "County" (speaking of teen pinups, albeit from another era). The film is based on a novel from Matt Bondurant about a family of Prohibition-era bootleggers, and crimes committed by and against them. The movie, an independently financed project that's being produced by the producers of "Jarhead" and "Girl, Interrupted" and executive produced by the man behind "Paranormal Activity," aims to begin shooting in the spring.
The firming up of LaBeouf and Hardy for "County" does put a pin, at least for the moment, in "College Republicans," in which LaBeouf was to play a young Lee Atwater and, sources say, Paul Dano a young Karl Rove, in the "Social Network"-esque story about the two conservative kingmakers in college.
That would have been juicy. But to see LaBeouf and Hardy as bootleggers may be worth the wait.
-- Steven Zeitchik
Zeitchik
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)