Flick of the Day: Lawless

Australian director John Hillcoat burst onto the scene with his ultra violent yet soulful take on the Western, The Proposition from a script by fellow Aussie Nick Cave, The sombre tone of that film was perfectly suited to his next film, an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's masterful apocalyptic novel The Road. That film had its moments but suffered from the sheer difficulty of recreating the unique prose of McCarthy. His latest work is another adaptation, this time of a true story, and another collaboration with Nick Cave. Lawless is a tale of bootlegging and in the backwoods of Virginia during the prohibition era and is today's flick of the day.

Lawless

In the depths of the great depression, the effects of prohibition have yet to reach Franklin County, Virginia where the three Bondurant brothers make a quiet living selling their home distilled moonshine. Forrest, played by the man of the moment Tom Hardy, is tough and taciturn with an air of invincibility and the natural leader of the three. Howard, played by Australian Jason Clarke, is a feckless rogue but possessed of an immense strength and propensity for violence. Finally there is the runt of the litter, Jack, played by everybody's favourite  punching bag Shia LaBeouf is ambitious and has a penchant for the gangster lifestyle. Into this Hank Williams song steps the law in the form of pantomime villain Charlie Rakes. I say pantomime because Guy Pearce has somewhat inexplicably chose to portray Charlie with all the depth and realism of the wicked witch of the west. Alas, more of that anon, back to the tale. Rakes is determined to stamp out the illegal liquor business unless they are willing to grease the wheels of justice. Suffice as to say, Forrest is not willing to back down and sets the family on a collision course with the vicious Rakes.

It would be wrong to criticise Hillcoat too much for Lawless flaws, for there is much to enjoy here. Not least of which is Tom Hardy's solid and impressive performance as the clan leader determined not to back down in the face of the terrorist tactics of Charlie Rakes. LaBeouf gets a lot of criticism as an actor, much of it deserved however here he is perfectly matched with the role of Jack, a brash young man who dreams of the big time. The great Gary Oldman is criminally underused as an urban gangster who buys the brother's booze, and that's it really, that is all he does in the movie. Oh wait, he fires a Thompson gun once and swings a shovel. Jessica Chastain is better served as the mysterious woman with a past who comes into the Bondurant's lives. I've enjoyed her work since last year's Take Shelter and she is strong again in an underwritten role.

Now inevitably we must come to Guy Pearce and his "acting". I don't quite know why he chose to play the brutish Charlie Rakes with all the subtlety of a kick to the scrotum but there you go. He hams it up throughout, flouncing across the screen with a voice that sounds not dissimilar to one of the lepers in Ben Hur while committing acts of savagery and having an obsession with cleanliness. He is the worst thing about the film but necessary to drive the plot forward.

That said, this is by no means a bad film. It is entertaining throughout and the Virginia setting has an authenticity sadly lacking in Michael Mann's dull Public Enemies which deals with the same period. The tale of the Bondurant clan is of course a true story something which in and off itself makes the film more interesting. Hillcoat knows how to frame a shot and the scenery of the Virginia backwoods is eerily beautiful.  This accompanied by the well choreographed bouts of violence creates a film that is nothing if not stylish and feels of the period. A worthy endeavour.

Flick of The Day: L.A Confidential

The work of American novelist James Ellroy is notoriously hard to adapt for the screen, written as it is in short staccato sentences with dense plotting involving numerous strands and characters. This is its strength as fiction but obviously harder to carry onto the big screen. If this in done badly, you get a flop like Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia, if done well, you get today's flick of the day, L.A Confidential one of the best films of the 1990's and a multiple Oscar winner.

L.A. Confidential

Apart from a great script from director Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland which successfully reduces the scope of Ellroy's novel while still retaining the core story, the other main strength of this movie is a cast to die for. Russell Crowe is a violent yet good hearted Detective Bud White, James Cromwell is his Machiavellian commanding officer, Captain Dudley Smith. Guy Pearce is Edmund Exeley an up and coming strait laced star of the LAPD. Kevin Spacey, is Hollywood Jack Vincennes, an amoral cop to the stars. Kim Basinger is Lynn Bracken, a high class call girl whose career is managed by millionaire Pierce Morehouse Patchett, a brilliant turn from David Strathairn and finally Danny DeVito as the sleazy magazine editor Sid Hudgens.

Set in 1950s Los Angeles, the film opens on Christmas Eve when a group of drunken detectives attack some newly apprehended suspects in an event the press dub, "Bloody Christmas". Thereafter in an attempt to clean up the force, the top brass seek to prosecute the officers involved. Keen to move up, Exeley agrees to testify against his own colleagues, making him a hated figure while Bud White and Jack Vincennes refuse. The film then follows the rise and fall of these three detectives and their boss, Captain Smith. They become embroiled in the investigation of a shocking massacre at a late night coffee shop that may or may not involve organised crime. However all is not as it seems, and  an intricate plot leads to a great twisting conclusion involving drugs, prostitution and police corruption that goes to the very top. 

With a plot dense enough to match the great of the genre like Chinatown or The Big Sleep, this is a great detective yarn. Hanson has managed to perfectly capture the glamour and sleazy underbelly of post-war Los Angeles. Down to a tee, everything feels perfectly of the period in terms of fashion, decor and location. It sucks you into the period and tells a great story.The film received 9 Oscar nominations but lost in almost all categories due to the unstoppable juggernaut that was Titanic. It is shocking now to think that a film as poorly written and acted as Titanic outshone this picture but such are the unknowing ways of the Academy. One of the few awards it did win was for its screenplay, adapted as I've said by Hanson and Helgeland which is well deserved as the film is endlessly quotable.

Bud White: Merry Christmas. 

Lynn Bracken: Merry Christmas to you, officer. 

Bud White: That obvious, huh? 

Lynn Bracken: It's practically stamped on your forehead

This really is a must see film, combining a great cast with a fine script to produce a really old-fashioned actor driven movie, the kind that studios either don't want to make or are unable of making. They seem more and more interested in producing thrash in a 3D glaze with each passing day. I am no luddite and have never been against the use of advancing technology in cinema but it should not be at at the expense of basic storytelling. It is telling that this film lost out to effects driven schlock like Titanic, telling and disappointing. A great film.