Lawless

In the Virginia backwoods during Prohibition, three brothers (Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke, Shia LaBeouf) have a good moonshine business going, until a crooked “special deputy” (Guy Pearce) wants his cut—and takes sadistic pleasure in not taking “no” for an answer. Speaking of sadistic pleasures, director John Hillcoat indulges some of his own in flesh-and-blooding out Nick Cave’s script (from Matt Bondurant’s novel about his own grandfather). It’s unrelentingly violent and not for the squeamish, but if you can take it, there’s good stuff here: Hardy is a tower of inarticulate strength, and LaBeouf (as a sort of hillbilly Michael Corleone) matches him as his callow kid brother. Good work, too, from Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska as their respective sweethearts, and Gary Oldman as a Chicago gangster.