Short Cut Review: Lawless

A Short Cut Movie Review is normally less than 400 words, but in some cases may go slightly over. This is my attempt to keep writing about as many films as I see without getting bogged down with trying to find more to say. They are meant to be brief snapshots of my reaction to a movie without too much depth.

Tom Hardy is menacing and vicious as one of three brothers who run a moonshining operation in the hills of Virginia in 1930. Shia LaBeouf is not nearly as annoying as usual and plays just about the only character in the film who undergoes any kind of change. Guy Pearce gives an odd performance as a Chicago lawman trying to shut down the brothers' operation. Jessica Chastain again reveals her fantastic acting talent and old-Hollywood dame-like charm. She looks and acts like she stepped straight out of a 1940s noir. The film carries a constant sense of dread. I felt uneasy through the whole thing, expecting shocking violence to strike at any moment. Hillcoat demonstrates again he's a more than apt director for depicting the violence that men inflict on one another.