'Lawless' number two at box office
By SARAH FAY CAMPBELLsarah@newnan.com
“Lawless,” filmed primarily in Coweta County and surrounding areas, is the number two movie in America, following Labor Day weekend.
“Lawless” opened last Wednesday, and took in $12.8 million over the three-day weekend, second only to “The Possession.”
Another movie with Coweta ties, “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” remains strong, ranking number six over the weekend. It is in its third week of release. “The Odd Life” made $8.56 million over the three day weekend, with a total gross of $38,441,566.
Both movies are playing locally.
“Lawless,” the fictionalized account of the bootlegging Bondurant brothers in 1930s Virginia, is receiving mostly positive reviews, but no glowing ones. According to Metacritic, the most favorable reviews scored the movie an 80 out of 100. The average, based on all reviews from critics, is 58.
“If ‘Lawless’ doesn’t achieve the mythic dimensions of the truly great outlaw and gangster movies, it is a highly entertaining tale set in a vivid milieu, told with style and populated by a terrific ensemble,” said reviewer David Rooney in “The Hollywood Reporter.”
“For those of us who are suckers for blood-soaked American crime sagas from that era, those merits will be plenty.”
The former Bible Baptist Church and Newnan Christian School building on U.S. 29 north was used as the base camp for the movie’s production in Coweta. A major set was built on the Elders Mill property in eastern Coweta.
Filming was also done in Haralson, and the Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge in Imlac in Meriwether County is prominently featured in the movie’s previews.
The movie was originally titled “The Wettest County in the World,” which is also the title of the book, written by Matt Bondurant about his grandfather and great uncles.
The movie stars Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy and Jason Clarke as Jack, Forrest, and Howard. Guy Pearce portrays sadistic federal agent Charlie Rakes, and Gary Oldman is Chicago mobster Floyd Banner.
