Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy Bootleg in ‘Lawless’ Trailer

For those who liked the idea of Michael Mann's 'Public Enemies,' but not the execution, have we got a movie for you. John Hillcoat's 'Lawless' brings together an all star cast with Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska for a story about brother bootleggers up against the law and organized crime. Check out the trailer...

And though it's got some after effects fun, the trailer sets up that this is a great cast in the midst of a bootlegger war. Perhaps the odd man out is LaBeouf, who was once considered promising. Indeed, Steven Spielberg helped his career along, but years of bad sequels ('Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,' Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps' and the 'Transformers' follow-ups) have made him very wealthy, but not all that interesting.

Enter John Hillcoat. Best known as an Australian director, he came stateside to direct 'The Road,' which was a strong adaptation of material that was unforgiving. This looks much more commercial. And music fans will be delighted to know that Nick Cave (of The Birthday Party and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) adapted the novel by Matt Bondurant. The film is scheduled to come out August 31, and it looks very promising.