Lawless (2012)

As one reviewer wrote, ‘Lawless’ is not flawless’.  But it is pretty darn good.

There are movies that I watch because they appeal to me.  I love period dramas.  I love foreign films—both comedies and downbeat dramas. This is more of an action film with a whopping dose of violence.  The bootlegger heroes are breaking the law, but the lawmakers are a more loathsome group.  They are both law breakers and law enforcement, which is not an ideal combination.  You do not end up loving the cops at the end of this movie, and it is easy to draw connections between the money that was in whiskey running in the 1930’s and the large amounts of cash that is involved in drug running in the 21^st century.

This is a post-Prohibition tale. It is set in the period after there is an absolute ban on alcohol, but it deals with the same impulse -- to sell illegal liquor and thwart government regulations. In this case, those doing the selling are moonshine makers and runners in 1930s' Virginia.
Based on a true story, Lawless focuses on the Bondurant brothers: Forrest (Tom Hardy), Howard (Jason Clarke) and Jack (Shia LaBeouf). They are amongst the best-known moonshine makers/distributors. Jessica Chastain is the obligatory femme fatale behind the legitimate business’ bar, and she does a fine job with that somwhat liniting role.  Their unobstructed access to trafficking in moonshine goes very wrong when a federal agent from Chicago named Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) comes to town to get a cut of their action, monetarily speaking; when they refuse to pay, he starts to play rough.
Rough being the key term there. Rakes is a fancy-pants sadist with a severe hair center part that sets him apart, nearly invisible eyebrows, and a penchant for boys. He terrorizes the Bondurants every way he can -- but despite all the bruising and beating, he merely riles them up.  They duel to the death—literally—and may the best men win.