Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2013

Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and Jason Clarke portray a trio of “hard-ass cracker” Prohibition-era bootlegger brothers battling an oily, corrupt T-man (Guy Pearce) for the freedom to engage in moonshine business as usual. Jessica Chastain puts in her sexiest performance to date as a stripper-turned-barmaid. The film is marred by a few underdeveloped subplots and a minor second-half lack of focus, but it remains a solidly entertaining, suspenseful and violently authentic outlaw shoot-’em-up that’s compulsively watchable. May be too slick for some and too pulpy for others. Loved the soundtrack.