Trailer - Lawless

John Hillcoat is a director I have my eye on. He has directed two of my favorite movies of the last ten years in "The Road" and "The Proposition." Both of those movies have been essentially swept under the rug despite their impact. It seems that The Weinstein Company is continuing to treat Hillcoat and his work as second fiddle. Back in March TWC bumped Hillcoat's latest film for a second time to Memorial Day weekend, one of the slowest movie going weekends of the year. Despite the Weinstein's treatment of a product that should be heavily promoted I am here to try and keep awareness and interest up for Hillcoat's next feature. Take a look at the latest trailer for the now titled "Lawless" below...


The trailer certainly sets the table for what looks like a great crime thriller about bootlegging in the South. The troubling aspect is a title change so close to release and the continual bump by the Weinstein Co. "Lawless" was originally titled "The Wettest County in the World" which was later changed to "Wettest County"and now finally "Lawless." This is a film that has been on my radar since knowing that John Hillcoat wanted to adapt the novel into a film, but even for someone like myself who really wants to see this flick, it is hard to keep track with all of the title changes.

Then we have the date pushes by the Weinstein Co. While writing this it dawned on me that we should have already seen this movie. It was originally set for release in April but then pushed to its new release date August 31st. The Weinstein's didn't put much confidence in Hillcoat's last film 'The Road' only opening it in 300+ theaters in the US and giving a next to nothing promotional campaign. Now here again it seems they are undercutting a truly dynamic director with a real voice. A trailer for "Lawless" is out yet trying to find any kind of real marketing for it will take some work. If you were not aware of this movie, you would have zero knowledge of what is happening with it and even if this flick was on your radar you may have missed any promotions.

The optimist in me wants to believe they pushed the release back past "The Dark Knight Rises" to use Tom Hardy's awareness that surly will follow Nolan's final Batman film (he plays the main villain Bane). But the cynic in me wonders if they will even give this film the due it deserves. It has a outstanding cast and from the looks of the trailer Hillcoat is on to something.

There's plenty of time to see a turnaround from the Weinstein's in promotion for "Lawless" but the way they have treated John Hillcoat previously really makes me worried that this will too be swept up under the rug for true cinephiles to discover on their own. "Lawless" releases August 31st, 2012.

Source: Apple Trailers