Comic-Con Review: Lawless
By all accounts Franklin County, Virginia is a picturesque place. Rolling hills, fog covered ponds, covered bridges and greenery as far as the eye can see, this is a place of peace and tranquility. This description is accurate, unless we are talking about Prohibition-era Franklin County. During this era, the rolling hills are accompanied by still fires as far as the eye can see. This is "The Moonshine Capital of the World." This is the world of Lawless, which had a special screening at Comic-Con San Diego earlier this month. Lawless, based on the book The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant, tells the story of the author’s grandfather and great-uncles' careers as some of Franklin County's most notorious bootleggers.
Lawless highlights the legendary lives of the brothers Bondurant: Jack, Forrest and Howard, played by Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy and Jason Clarke respectively. From run-ins with the law, a thirst for fast cars, a hunger for success and a love of family, Lawless weaves a story of brotherly love and angst told in the context of the gritty world of moonshiners. The performances of LaBeouf, Hardy and Clarke are convincing. Jack is the youngest and most ambitious of the brothers, Forrest is the soft-spoken but strong oldest brother, and Howard is the middle brother whose love of moonshine affects him greatly. All of these characters are fully formed people and are left in the hands of skilled actors.
The supporting characters are played by some of the greatest actors and actresses of all time, including Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce and Mia Wasikowska. Noah Taylor plays Gary Oldman’s lackey -- you might remember him from Red White and Blue, which was shot in Austin and premiered at SXSW. With a cast like this it's hard to see anything going wrong. In the case of Lawless, nothing does.
Eric Vespe of Ain't It Cool News moderates a Q&A with John Hillcoat, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Clarke and Dane DeHaan at San Diego Comic-Con 2012.
The story of Lawless is guided by the skilled hand of director John Hillcoat from a script by musician Nick Cave. Hillcoat draws out some great performances from his cast, transforming Guy Pearce into a demented sadist, Gary Oldman into an old-school gangster and Jessica Chastain into a bad girl gone good. Banner performances all around. The most memorable aspect to me was Tom Hardy using a series of grunts to communicate his feeling. Not sure if this was Hillcoat's responsibility or Hardy's, but it added a lot to the character of Forrest.
It would be a shame not to mention the cinematography. As mentioned earlier, the location of Franklin County is another character in this film. Cinematographer Benoit Delhomme captures the heart of the location, which immerses you in the time and space of Prohibition-era Franklin County. The foggy mornings, covered bridges and scenes of massive kudzu overgrowth wrap you in the setting.
Filmgoers have a love affair with the underworld. We love our villains, our gangsters and our bootleggers. Lawless is your chance to root for bootleggers with hearts of golden moonshine.
Franklin County Beauty... in Georgia
Southwest Virginia is beautiful, with some of the last undeveloped Appalachian countryside not guarded in national forests and parks. But this movie was filmed in the rolling hills of Georgia's Piedmont Region, southwest of Atlanta, not Franklin County.
Certainly the locations capture the vision of Virginia scenery, and the scenes depicted in the book. But, it was probably a financial decision, to capture the Georgia film tax credit to help along a small-to-medium budget film, that put the production in Georgia.
John Hillcoat has a talented top notch team, many of the same folks that were part of The Proposition--also a stunning film, violent, well acted, and well done. This film has an ensemble cast that is great, and will be exciting. And with good music. Can't wait.