Lawless (John Hillcoat, 2012)

Although this time it's hillbilly bootleggers in Prohibition-era Virginia, there's a similar gritty feel to this as the previous collaboration of the director with the screenplay's writer Nick Cave, 2005's The Proposition. The film's palette is the same washed-out ochres and there's a sense of bad times a-coming, with the lead character, Shia LaBeouf's pimply wannabe big shot, sure to get a rude awakening.
As usual, LaBeouf is the weakest link, but at least there's strong support from the likes of Tom Hardy as his hardass brother and Guy Pearce as a bloodless preening psychotic lawman after their hides, somewhat in the mould of Gary Oldman in Leon, who incidentally also appears in a minor role. It's strong on period detail but in the end less than the sum of its parts, capturing the attention only by dint of its moments of extreme violence.

4/10