2012 · crime · drama · western
Lawless
Directed by John Hillcoat1h 55m2012
In 1931, the Bondurant brothers of Franklin County, Virginia, run a multipurpose backwoods establishment that hides their true business — bootlegging. Middle brother Forrest is the brain of the operation; older Howard is the brawn, and younger Jack, the lookout. Though the local police have taken bribes and left the brothers alone, a violent war erupts when a sadistic lawman from Chicago arrives and tries to shut down the Bondurants operation.
Our read: Lawless (2012) reads as a heavy, steady, grounded crime · drama · western entry — extreme in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, cold in temperature, nihilistic in outlook.
Heavy, steady, extreme crime / drama, grounded in texture. Nihilistic, mid-stakes, cold.
- heavy
- extreme
- cold
Watching Lawless tonight? Spin for your lens.
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How Lawless feels to watch.
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What watching it is actually like.
“You want Prohibition bootlegging brothers facing a sadistic Chicago lawman.”
Skip it tonight — Period gangster brutality or slow Appalachian pacing bores you tonight.
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