Lawless
Bootlegging brothers battle the authorities.
Directed by John Hillcoat
(R)
**
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It’d be going too far to call this stylized Western disappointing, said Tom Long in The Detroit News. The film’s “astounding cast and gritty look” will be enough to satisfy most ticket buyers attracted to a violent tale about three bootlegging brothers who make a stand against a corrupt G-man in Prohibition-era Appalachia. But because the script, by Nick Cave, is “overstuffed” and unfocused, Lawless “never quite reaches the heights of its promise.” A few performances pop, said Ann Hornaday in The Washington Post. Tom Hardy proves memorable as the grunting, growling top dog among the three brothers, and Guy Pearce gives the malevolent fed “a perverse streak as wide as the great Blue Ridge.” But the amazing Jessica Chastain “has little more to do” than “gaze meaningfully at Hardy,” while the rest of the cast, including headliner Shia LaBeouf, can’t overcome the sense that the whole affair is merely a highly polished genre exercise. “The punishing moments of violence will keep you alert,” perhaps even cringing, said Richard Corliss in Time. Still, Lawless has “a fossilized feeling.” It’s “more artifact than breathing work of art.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Where does it stop?'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Why do Russian oil bosses keep dying?
Under the Radar There have been 'at least 50' mysterious deaths of energy company executives since Putin ordered Ukraine invasion
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The insides and outsides of Helsinki's energetic art scene
The Week Recommends Finland's capital has an admirable mix of street art and museums
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published