LAWLESS **

John Hillcoat may not be the most prolific of directors, (just 6 feature films in 30 years), but with a John Hillcoat film you know precisely what you are going to get; gritty, extremely violent, male-orientated entertainments that, more likely or not, will be visually stunning and probably with a screenplay by Nick Cave. "Lawless" is archetypal Hillcoat. Apparently based on a true story it's set in Depression-era Virginia and is about a trio of bootlegger brothers , (Tom Hardy, Shia LeBeouf and Jason Clarke), who are targeted by a corrupt Deputy Sheriff, (Guy Pearce), and again Nick Cave wrote the screenplay and again it is almost sickeningly violent which means it's not going to appeal to everyone.

Despite the talent involved, (and that includes cinematographer Benoit Delhomme and composers Cave and Warren Ellis), this is one of Hillcoat's lesser films. There are too many characters and too many star names, (Gary Oldman, Jessica Chastain and Mia Waiskowska are also involved), and too meandering a plot but even lesser Hillcoat is a cut above most of what passes for multiplex entertainment these days. Surprisingly, Hillcoat has remained more of a cult director than someone commanding the mainstream and maybe that's for the best. He may not be the most prolific of directors and his films may not bag loads of money but at least he has kept his cinematic dignity.