(Originally from Facebook – August 13, 2013)

I’m not sure why I missed this one the first time around. It’s got a great cast. Maybe the advertising? I should know better than to listen to them anyway. It’s the true (although I’m always hesitant to use that term) story of three brothers who run moonshine in 1930s Virginia.

It’s a very violent film, but not in an explicit way. Sure, there is some blood, but it’s really the suddenness of the violence that gets you. It affected me a lot more than other, more gory films I’ve seen. And it’s not just the violence, it’s the constant threat of violence, which gives the movie a palpable tension, and makes even the smallest of moments seem ominous. I happen to like movies like that, where you’re on the edge of your seat, and you never quite know who’s “safe.”

As I said, it’s a great cast, and they all live up to their reputations. Tom Hardy is especially good (isn’t he always, though) as one of the brothers, and I think Shia LaBeouf gets undeservedly maligned sometimes. I hope that those who do so don’t shy away from this film because I think he does quite well, showing the most transition. The third brother is played by Jason Clarke, whom you might know from Zero Dark Thirty. His part is smaller than the other two, but I feel like he steals every scene he’s in, which is no small feat. Guy Pearce, whom I like, chewed the scenery a little bit, but did it with appropriate menace.

I don’t think I’m alone in letting this one go under the radar. If you had second thoughts about seeing it when it first came out, you might want to reconsider. It struck me as something akin to a ’30s version of Goodfellas. IMDB says 7.2. Who am I to disagree? I put it in the 7-7.5 range. (running time 1:56)