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Lawless (2012)
Lawless is adapted by screenwriter Nick Cave from American author Matt Bondurant's 2008 second novel The Wettest County in the World, itself based on the short-lived brutal criminal past of his bootlegger-turned-rancher grandfather Jack Bondurant and Jack's older brothers Forrest and Howard. Apparently, it was believed more people in Franklin County than anywhere else were involved in the production of illicit liquor in the 1930's, with the Bondurant Brothers having the worst real-life reputations for drinking and fighting while running white lightening out of their gas station restaurant at that time. Impressive. This film's official website is also fairly impressive, reflecting the era's theme while offering the usual goodies along with its simple main street shoot-out game Locked & Loaded and the bare-fisted fighting game Brass Knuckles Beatdown. Facebook users can also login to get an outlaw name with American Slangster or enter the Lawless Moonshine Challenge (which didn't work when I gave it a couple of tries after the film opened.) Still, check it out at http://www.lawless-film.com. In the movie, Shia LaBeouf's performance as Jack is exceptional. He initially comes off as this uninteresting big talking wimp who can never live up to imposing eldest Forrest's (phenomenally played by Tom Hardy) fearless grit and prowess in the family business. You basically write off Jack as he focuses his energies on feebly impressing the preacher's coy daughter Bertha Minnix (Mia Wasikowska) while his far more wily kin see the storm of big city racketeering rolling in with the arrival of serpentine Special Deputy Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce). However, Jack slowly begins to emerge in importance to the story as it progresses here, truly showcasing LaBeouf's wonderfully matured dramatic skill on-screen. Hardy effortlessly steals every scene, though, whether or not your focus is turned to the secondary story of Forrest and simmering love interest Maggie Beauford (Jessica Chastain). Awesome. Unfortunately, Jack's slow development does make Cave's screenplay feel unnecessarily lumbering throughout this 115-minute screening. It's as though, despite having all these amazing actors working wonders opposite a wealth of inspiring aspects from the American underworld in the 1930's, this picture lost interest in telling a big entertaining crime story. It's great that what transpires invests so much time on the characters. After-all, they're based on real people. Real people of local legend. None particularly feel like stock stereotypes, and moviegoers are given ample reasons to care about what happens to them. But, the bigger set-up isn't convincingly obliged. Lawless doesn't transcend the reality of historic events to become a potentially outstanding genre film. You expect going in to see escalating bouts of bloody brutality and angry hornet's nests of bullets ripping across the screen when Rakes and his thugs start to systematically strong arm or shut down the moonshiners. It doesn't really happen. You wait for the locals to rise up and fight back in an epic snaggletoothed hillbilly turf war of crazed wanton carnage and fiery banjo riffs. It's a long wait, bring a lunch and don't expect much 'til the end. You know trigger-happy gangsters are also in town, forcefully punctuated early on by the appearance of machine gun-wielding mob enforcer Floyd Banner (Gary Oldman), but his and their existence here feels pointless for the most part. Rakes and Banner never cross paths, sadly. Definitely check out Lawless for the superb performances as a worthwhile, character-driven half-price matinee or video-on-demand rental when it's available, but don't expect it to match the hype as a memorably entertaining outlaw movie. Reviewed 09/12, © Stephen Bourne Lawless is rated 14A by the Ontario
Film Review Board for occasional gory/grotesque images, mild
sexual references, limited use of slurs, coarse language, nudity
in a non-sexual context, partial or full nudity in a brief sexual
situation, occasional upsetting or disturbing scenes, embracing
and kissing, sexual innuendo, tobacco use, and violent acts shown
in clear, unequivocal and realistic detail with blood and tissue
damage, and is rated 13+ by la Régie du Cinéma
in Québec. REFERENCE:
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Stephen Bourne's Movie Quips © Stephen Bourne. Moviequips.ca and moviequips.com are the property of Stephen Bourne. All content of this website is owned by Stephen Bourne, unless obviously not (such as possible reference links, movie synopsis and/or posters featured under the terms of fair use) or attributed otherwise. This website is based in Ottawa, Canada. |
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The Lesser Blessed (2013)
Wow, what an amazing cast. Evans is phenomenal here, effortlessly portraying his emotionally complex role with seasoned finesse. I'll admit I knew nothing about this flick before screening it, except that Adam Butcher is in it. I remembered being blown away years ago by then-child actor Butcher's starring performance in Saint Ralph (2004) and wanted to see him all grown up on the big screen. Top marks to him for playing off-type. Same goes for Kiowa Gordon and Benjamin Bratt, who nail their defiantly un-Hollywood yet perceptively captivating supporting roles. On the downside, pretty well all of the female roles are fairly dull and talent-wasting. Grim isolation resonates throughout this predominantly blunt and fairly demanding 86-minute feature about adolescent life and its consequences in contemporary Northern Canada, as seen through the heavy eyes of high school nobody Larry. What's demanding is in how The Lesser Blessed drags itself through this story like a wounded animal searching for someplace to die. In one way or another, all of these characters are wounded. Numbed to life as it hemorrhages from them. It's the sort of haunting atmospheric filmmaking that normally puts me to sleep at the movie theatre, but the long slow pacing deftly inhabited by this astounding cast that's filtered through cinematographer Brendan Steacy's unflinching lens works beautifully here. The Lesser Blessed is a demanding movie because it deserves to be. In a good way. Granted, Doron's script does have a fairly basic premise that feels torn from an After School TV Special: Bored and bullied loner befriends the edgy new kid and gains the confidence to talk to the cute girl in class. However, these characters are far from being typical small screen stereotypes. Quick-tongued with wry effacing quips despite McManus' hot temper, Larry's burn-scarred body harbours a traumatic secret of domestic abuse and tragedy that echoes through the new small home he and his mother Verna (played by Tamara Podemski) have relocated to. These people come with damaged baggage that keeps a paying audience locked on what happens next. Awesome. Clicking to the fairly unimpressive official webpage hosted by distributor Monterey Media garners the usual synopsis, movie trailer, cast and photo galleries, as well as access to the press kit in MS Word or PDF format and links to where you can pre-order the DVD. The press kit is great for a couple of reasons: You get to read Doron's own thoughts on making this film, and movie bloggers get to see quotes from movie bloggers and other normally overlooked reviewers listed there. Dreams can come true. Good stuff. As for the poster, well, there's not much happening within its simplistic three-panel photo layout of selected cast members that truly reflects the movie. It looks more like a business decision. Bewildering, and boring. Definitely not a teen film for everyone, The Lesser Blessed is by far an exceptionally crafted, mature and relevant Canadian treasure found off the mainstream radar that's well worth checking out for its haunting storytelling and amazing cast. Reviewed 06/13, © Stephen Bourne. The Lesser Blessed is rated 14A
by the Ontario Film Review Board, citing limited use of slurs,
coarse language, sexual references, illustrated or verbal references
to drugs, alcohol or tobacco, substance abuse, bullying, embracing
and kissing, sexual innuendo, tobacco use, and restrained portrayals
of non-graphic violence, and is rated 13+ by la Régie
du Cinéma in Québec. REFERENCE:
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Stephen Bourne's Movie Quips © Stephen Bourne. Moviequips.ca and moviequips.com are the property of Stephen Bourne. All content of this website is owned by Stephen Bourne, unless obviously not (such as possible reference links, movie synopsis and/or posters featured under the terms of fair use) or attributed otherwise. This website is based in Ottawa, Canada. |
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