John Ary here with a recap of the Lawless premiere in Austin. Saturday night the audience at the South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse was treated to a visit from the author of the book that the story is based on, an appearance by Willie Nelson and I made the acquaintance of a gentleman who has first hand knowledge of running hooch across county lines.
First, lets start with Matt Bondurant, author of The Wettest County in the World. Shia LaBeouf plays his grandfather in the film. Harry had the chance to do a Q&A with him after the screening to sort out the truth from the fiction. By Bondurant's account, the depiction of his great granduncle, the invincible Forrest by Tom Hardy, was scaled back a bit from reality, as he endured several more attacks that would have killed most men. One attack in particular involving a load of lumber being dropped on him didn't make the movie. Also the showdown at the end between the Bondurants and Charlie Rakes was much different in real life. WARNING: The conversation contains several SPOILERS...
Another highlight of the evening included a quick chat with Willie Nelson. According to Willie, Harvey Weinstein personally asked him to perform a song for the film. He talks a little about his favorite movie of all time that utilized his music, his reaction to Lawless and growing up in a dry county...