Lawless (2012)

Lawless is a film directed by John Hillcoat. I viewed this film a couple weeks ago at Criterion Cinema located in Downtown New Haven, which, as a side note, is my favorite of all theaters in the greater New Haven area. The film is based on the true story of the Bondurant brothers and their exploits as bootleggers of moonshine during the Great Depression. The film stars Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, and Gary Oldman.

I was skeptical when going into this film, having followed its progress through pre-prodution, filming, and post-production. It had many reshoots and renamings, all clues to the instability of the production process, which lead me to question its merit as a film. Once the trailer was released, my fears were confirmed. A once interesting concept had probably been shaped into a flimsy Hollywood action release. The cinematic merit that had shone during its early days had obviously been lost under the corporate hands of The Weinstein Company, the films distributor.

All in all, the film was a major disappointment. Not even halfway through, I felt myself huffing and puffing at the overly genre-likened writing and bland cinematography. I could not find anything remotely unique about this gangster era gunslinging movie. It could not come close to competing with the likeness of Bonnie and Clyde (1967), a film that took the gangster genre to a level not yet explored. Bonnie and Clyde added a depth and motivation into their characters, where as the writing in Lawless striped the characters of any true meaning, and placed all motivations under sexual desire without allowing for any explanation.

My largest complaint, however, was the over sexualization of the female characters. The Bondurant brothers essentially used their bootlegging business as a means to acquire the female body, and because of this, the women of the film were automatically subjugated to only live in the eye of desire. An example of this is when Shia LaBeouf's character wishes to join in with his brothers and become a successful member of the Bondurant team. He makes it a point to become the most successful and flashy member of the family through the purchasing of new stylish clothes and high end cars. He does this only to impress a lowly amish girl who has caught his eye. He does not actually care for the business of bootlegging, only the business of watching the amish girl remove her clothes. Mia Wasikowska, who plays the amish girl, is over sexualized throughout the duration of the film because she is seen through the horny eye of LaBeouf's character. The way this is done is through the "peeper technique," in which the camera stealthily hides itself from the person being captured. In various scenes, she is caught in compromising positions due to this technique. Also, instead of focusing entirely on her face during important scenes between LaBeouf and her, the camera instead hovers over the curve of her collar bones or focuses directly on her moving lips. She is no longer a woman, but an object reduced to the sensual portions of her body.

I would not suggest this movie to anyone who does not want to waste their time. However, if you are looking for a fast passed and meaningless action film, please be my guest.