Lawless follows its own rules

So, I'll admit, ever since I saw this video, I haven't been too excited to see Shia LeBeouf in a movie. Of course that video was made about 6 years ago (if you can believe it) and Shia has had some time for some things to happen (YEAH).

Lawless tells the tale of these bootlegging brothers, the eldest of which is played by Tom Hardy. All of a sudden here comes this "special" deputy played by Guy Pierce and everything goes to horribly wrong. Within the first couple minutes a norm is well established and it doesn't get shattered right away. You get a feel for what all the characters want.The first thing to change is that a hot red-head from Chicago comes to be a waitress at the Bar/Cafe that the brother's own (cause all criminals have something that makes them look legitimate). So yeah, go see the movie if you want to know more.

The acting is superb. Even Shia steps up to the plate. Tom Hardy and Guy Pierce give phenomenal performances. Guy Pierce's character really leaves an impression as a villain. They feature an up-an-comer with Dane DeHaan (you might have recognized him as the real life Tetsuo from Chronicle). He also does a fantastic job and offers some comic relief, although Shia keeps most of that to himself. One thing that kinda sets it off, is Gary Oldman's character. It seems like he'd get a lot of screen time, but he pretty much stops showing up less than half-way through. Even though Tom Hardy does an excellent job, it feels like its the same roll that he's played before, like in Warrior and Dark Knight Rises. Even though some of the character were some Chicago, there was a distinct lack of...Chicago.

The action scenes are very intense. They're short and...I'd say realistic. Tom fights with brass knuckles and you feel it every time he hits. It makes the action very heavy and it adds a lot of weight to the violence. Unlike in Expendables, the violence isn't something that you look forward to. I mean you do, but it wasn't something that you would really...enjoy watching (or at least I would hope

There is a...I hesitate to say, but a sex scene. The reason I say its not quite a sex scene is that you don't see them have sex. It adds to the characters and it adds to the story. It definitely served a purpose in the movie.

The writing is pretty good and the characters are believable. The scenery in the movie kinda made me want to just, go into the hills/mountains and make moonshine.

The movie as a whole though, felt...underwhelming. It was good, but it just seemed to lack something that would have made it great. You don't have to go see it in theaters, unless you're in the mood for a movie but you're not sure what you want to see. Its a good filler to see while you wait for The Hobbit. The roll of the dice gives it 8/10. Go ahead and rent it and if you really want to, go see it in theaters.