Lawless

2012
18
1h 56m

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

257K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer2:29

True Crime Biography Crime Drama Thriller

Set in Depression-era Franklin County, Virginia, a trio of bootlegging brothers are threatened by a new special deputy and other authorities angling for a cut of their profits.Set in Depression-era Franklin County, Virginia, a trio of bootlegging brothers are threatened by a new special deputy and other authorities angling for a cut of their profits.Set in Depression-era Franklin County, Virginia, a trio of bootlegging brothers are threatened by a new special deputy and other authorities angling for a cut of their profits.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

257K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

2,424

312

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 8 nominations

Videos16

"Have You Met Howard?"

Clip 0:52

"Maggie Meets Forrest"

Clip 0:47

"Forrest Lectures Jack"

Photos201

+ 195

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The movie is based on actual events, as explained in the 2008 book "The Wettest County in the World" by Matt Bondurant, grandson of Jack Bondurant.

Goofs
The movie is set in the 1930s, at one point a character is loading a shotgun with plastic shotgun shells, but plastic shells weren't introduced until the 1960s. During the period of the movie shotgun shells were made of thick paper with a metal bottom for the primer.

Quotes
Forrest Bondurant: It is not the violence that sets men apart, alright, it is the distance that he is prepared to go.

Crazy credits
The real Bondurant brothers are shown, as children, fourteen years before the events in the film, just prior to the end credits.

Alternate versions
9 seconds of gory violence were removed for an R rating in the US. The film was released uncut internationally (including Canada).

Connections
Featured in At the Movies: Cannes Film Festival 2012 (2012)

Soundtracks
Fire and Brimstone
Written by Link Wray (as Fred Lincoln Wray, Jr.)
Performed by The Bootleggers
Featuring Mark Lanegan
Mark Lanegan appears courtesy of 4 AD Ltd.

User reviews370

Review

Featured review

7/10

A unique perspective of prohibition criminals

Lawless takes a unique perspective of the prohibition era away from the gangsters of the day to the people that ran the moonshine distilling and distribution businesses behind the scenes and the challenges they faced. Based on a true story, this movie follows 3 brothers as they fight for their position and respect in the illegal business.

Few actors bring a high level of intensity to the character they play as Tom Hardy does and for his role as Forrest Bondurant, it's no let down. Shia LaBouf is too hokey an actor to take seriously in his role and tended to undersell some scenes due to a lack of appropriate or sincere expression and others like when he was getting a beat down by Special Deputy Charley Rakes couldn't oversell the scene more unless he did actual cartwheels after getting hit. The rest of the cast gave a quality performance and overall this movie is an interesting and exciting film to see.