Never Mind Pop Film

When times are increasingly desperate, men of violence rule. The Bondurant brothers are such men. Forrest (Tom Hardy) and Howard (Jason Clarke) are chief bootleggers in the wettest county in the union. Practically everyone in Franklin is on the take from the moonshine trade: sheriffs, owners, and church-going folk alike. From churches to nightclubs these outlaws go untouched. The boys are legend and believed to be immortal, worse, they believe the tales about themselves.

Jack (Shia LaBeouf) is the black sheep of this backwoods flock. He does not possess the size of his brothers, nor the brutality. When a spiffy, special agent from Chicago comes down to enforce a new law, the Bondurants are forced to make up for their brother's inefficiencies.

Brutality is not new to the Bondurants, but what Special Agent Rakes (a deranged Guy Pearce) presents is remarkable cruelty. He is a gloved poke right in the center of Forrest's chest. The Bondurants can be touched, he implies, and they …

Tense. Riveting. Bold. Everything that you want from a Nick Cave-scripted film about bootlegging in the South. "Do you know what a Thompson Sub-Machine gun does to a mortal?" may be the best line that I've heard in a long, long time. This summer is shaping up to be one of the best in recent memory.

It can’t be worse. Can it? After the writer’s strike shortened the story plotting window for most summer blockbuster, Michael Bay‘s last crack at Robots in Disguise suffered the most. It may have looked more polished than his previous effort, but the lackluster story and dialogue brought down the flick significantly. Thankfully, the third film of the series salvages its predecessors.

Sam’s (Shia LaBeouf) life has changed considerably since we last saw him. Gone from his life are the days of college as well as his high-school sweetheart Mikaela. He has been thrust into one of the worst economies in recent memory – cue John Malkovich as the worst boss imaginable – and the thrill of running with the Autobots is also missing. Fortunately, he has the love of a good woman (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley who is given exactly as much to do as Megan Fox was; nothing.) so all is well.

After the last battle between Autobots and Decepticons the world seems to be at relative peace. Optimus…

I was expecting a little more from Brian Eno and David Byrne, their names alone suggest better work. With that said my favorite of the bunch is Craig Armstrong's "Prison". I wouldn't expect any contenders for Best Original Score to appear from this film.

UPDATE: Tom Hardy, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman, and Mia Wasikowska have joined the film, again titled, The Wettest County in the World. Glad to hear a project directed by John Hillcoat and penned by Nick Cave will see the light of day.
UPDATE: Gosling and Adams have dropped out of production. It looks like the project might be dead.

John Hillcoat is soon to be at work adapting another piece of literature: The Wettest County in the World, written by Matt Bondurant, and scripted by 'Proposition' writer Nick Cave. I was initially skeptical after hearing about the casting of Shia LaBeouf, but with Ryan Gosling and Amy Adams onboard this seems like a much more rounded out cast. If this turns out to be half as good as The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford I will be in line opening night.