Lawless (2012) Movie Script
Come on, Jack.
Just pull the damn trigger.
I can't.
My brother Forrest once said,
"Nothing can kill us.
We can't never die. "
The reason being
that in the great war,
my eldest brother, Howard,
saw his entire battalion
drown in the sea.
Every last one of them.
He was the only survivor.
And Forrest, well,
that same year,
Spanish Lady flu hit Franklin,
damn near wiped out
the entire state.
It got Ma and Pa and Forrest
but against all the odds,
he somehow managed
to fight it off.
So you could see
why Forrest felt that way.
Me and my brothers
are moonshiners.
Bootleggers.
In 1920, they passed
the Prohibition Act
making the sale
of alcohol illegal.
Well, at least
it was supposed to be.
You want a case, Sheriff?
- Morning, Forrest.
- Pure corn whiskey.
That there's the white lightning, Sheriff.
It'll come at you like a knife,
pointy end first,
sharp and hot all the way down.
Aw, damn it. Give me two.
All right, then.
- You all right there?
- Thanks, boys.
Always happy to oblige
an officer of the law.
They called Franklin
the wettest county in the world
on account of almost everybody
was making the stuff.
Now, you can make moonshine whiskey
from just about anything.
Whoa! Whoa, whoa!
Hey, Selma.
Turnips, pumpkins,
blackberries, cornmeal, tree bark.
- Anything.
- All right, then.
He's so fucking sick, man, can't get
himself out the bed to tend the stills.
- You want me to take it up to him?
- No, I can do it.
And at night, in them hills,
you could see them fires
from the stills burning
like lights on a damn Christmas tree.
over the mountains, in the cities,
there was the biggest crime
wave this country'd ever seen.
And all that illegal liquor
was flowing down from the hills
to the cities by the truckload.
Gangsters were just scooping money
off the streets like candy.
They had men like Al Capone,
Tommy Maloy,
that mad dog Floyd Banner.
They just moved in and took over.
Meanwhile, we were hauling stuff around
in our old, beat-up jalopies.
All right now, Jack,
I want you to stay here.
- What?
- Stay in the truck.
Ain't like someone's gonna steal
this piece of shit, Forrest.
Just do what you're told, Jack.
All right, Forrest, go on.
Amen! Amen!
Here we go. All right, then.
Get some of this.
Welcome, welcome.
How're you boys doing?
Sorry to hear about Little Bean,
Ida Belle.
You know Little Bean loved
his gals and his giggle water.
She sure is giving him
one hell of a send-off.
Give me your money, boy.
Yeah, you do as I say
- or I'm gonna cut you.
- Hold on, now, I ain't got nothing.
I'm just a driver.
You boys staying?
No, we gotta be getting off, Ida Belle.
Come on, Forrest, one damn drink.
No, we better be getting back now.
You ever seen a Harlem sunset?
Well, I'm fixing
to cut one right into you...
I ain't got nothing.
...if you don't hand over
that goddamn money.
Motherfucker.
Here, I'll take care of this.
Hey you, come on now,
you don't want to do this.
Why don't you put that knife away,
take you and your friends on home?
I'd listen to him if I was you.
You the boss?
You just sold a load to those
dinges in there, didn't you?
You hand over that cash or I'm gonna
cut some daylight into you.
Listen here, mister.
We got no way of
understanding this world.
We got about as much sense of it
as a bird flying in the sky.
There is a lot that bird don't know.
But it don't change the fact that
the world is happening to him
all the same.
What I'm trying to say is...
...is that the course of your life,
it is changing.
- You don't even see it.
- What are you talking about?
Let's go!
Yep.
That's what he's talking about.
Yeah, all right now.
You all right there, Jack?
Just caught me off guard is all.
You still good to drive?
- Fuck you, Howard.
- Oh, whatever you say,
little doggie.
All right, Jack, come on,
we gotta go set up over here.
Thank you.
Finest apple?
All right, then.
Are you gonna talk to Forrest about
taking some of me and Cricket's liquor?
- We're working on somethin' big.
- What do you mean talk to him?
About letting us in, Howard.
Not with that damn popskull shit
you been cooking up.
- We're still perfecting it.
- Perfecting it, my ass,
Jack, that shit
ain't fit to slop hogs.
Forrest don't want you involved, is all.
Why is that?
'Cause he don't think you got the grit.
Gimme another jar, Jack. Huh?
You might wanna slow down some,
Howard. We're trying to sell this stuff.
- Who is that?
- She's one of them crazies
from that church at Burnt Chimney.
Her daddy over there,
he's gonna be the preacher.
You wanna get yourself a crowbar, Jack,
if you wanna get inside of her.
She don't
look that crazy.
Her daddy don't look too happy, neither.
All right, now.
Jack, go on and
take this around the back.
Store whatever's left in the shed.
You too, Howard.
- Come on, Jack.
- Yeah.
Are you Forrest Bondurant?
Um...
I'm Maggie Beaufort.
They say in town you're looking for
someone to help out 'round the place.
Is that position still vacant?
Forgive me for asking, but, um...
...what does a lady like you...
...want here?
The city can grind a girl down.
Gets to a point where you start
looking for somewhere quiet.
Damn.
Well, Mr. Bondurant...
...do I get the job?
Quick. Quick.
Hey!
Cricket!
Hey!
Hey!
You ain't never gonna believe
what I just seen.
Floyd Banner shoot the tires
out of a goddamn ATU car
right smack in the middle of
town with a goddamn Tommy gun.
- Floyd Banner?
- Floyd Banner.
Oh, hey, look here. In the middle
of all that, I was thinking about you.
Got you one of these shell cases, Cricket.
- Oh, thanks, Jack!
- Yeah.
Figured we could put holes in it,
you know.
Put a chain through it, hang it around
our necks for luck or something.
Floyd Banner.
He looked like he had direction, vision.
You got smoke coming out the cabin.
Jesus Christ, Cricket.
- This gonna work?
- Naturally,
I'm still messing with
the recipe, of course.
And with this set-up through the pipes,
no one'll even know it's down here.
The man tucks away his bottle,
out he goes.
Well... Partner, I don't know if
that's the stupidest thing I ever seen
or you're some kind
of damn genius.
- ooh.
- Mm-hm.
Did Jimmy pay us?
- Yup.
- He did?
Thank you.
Hi, Forrest.
This here's the new Special Deputy.
He's been brought in
from the city to help us out.
You know, make sure things go smooth.
What things might they be?
Sorry, something amuse you?
My name is Charlie Rakes,
I'm from Chicago.
That damn brother of yours,
is he somewhere about?
Who's in the car?
That there's the new
Commonwealth's Attorney, Mason Wardell.
He wants to work it out so everybody
gets to do some business.
Henry,
go see what Mr. Wardell wants.
Pete, who the hell is this son of a bitch?
Me? I'm the one who's going to make
your life real difficult from now on
if you don't toe the line, country boy.
Don't you ever touch me again.
All right, all right.
Forrest, it already settled.
The whole county's gonna
get on board eventually.
Start at $20 a week, $30 a load
and that gets you free passage
throughout the whole county.
- No one'll bother you.
- Don't nobody bother me now.
Mr. Wardell, he'd like a jar
of your finest apple brandy.
That be all right?
Can I help you, son?
Yeah.
You send your clown
with the bow tie around here again,
and I guarantee you'll personally
pull a cleaver out of his fucking skull.
You understand me?
You're gonna regret this, Forrest.
He's already regretting it,
he's just too ignorant to know it yet.
Go on, go inside now.
You thinking of drawing on me?
Say your piece, Jimmy.
I got a business to run.
All right, Forrest.
Now we got a chance
to make a good stack of money
here while the getting is good.
But for things to run smooth,
you got to grease the tracks.
Yeah, I hear what
you're saying, Jimmy, and...
...we go back a long way, so Im not
gonna make a big deal out of this,
but, uh...
...I'm a Bondurant.
And we don't lay down for nobody.
We'll continue to operate
free and clear here, as always.
Me, I'll never pay no money
to no Mason Wardell
or the next damn bloodsucker
come after him.
I never have, I never will.
I'm sorry you feel that way,
Forrest.
Jimmy, do you have something
that you really wanna say to me?
You can't do it
the old way no more.
I remember there was a time
you had some balls, Jimmy.
Well, I guess we'll see what happens.
Gentlemen.
Look, Deputy, we've got
something of a problem here.
It's Special Deputy, and
I don't see a problem at all.
I hear these mountain boys
have got, uh...
...Injun blood in them.
Cherokee. This would explain
why they're a little...
...animalistic in their nature.
I don't rightly understand
what you mean.
But there's a feeling around
these parts that Forrest Bondurant
is different than other folks.
- Different?
- Indestructible.
Do you mean "immortal"?
Shit. You fucking hicks are
a sideshow unto yourselves.
Sheriff, you have any idea
what a Thompson submachine gun
does to immortal"?
Well, this ain't Chicago.
You can't just shoot him.
Do that, people around here
will string us up from a tree.
Do I look stupid to you?
I've been brought in to do a job.
And I know just who to start with.
You know something?
I don't much like you.
Yeah, well, not many do.
- Gimme some of that.
- Yeah, it's good.
I could run them blockades.
- You? A blockader? Shit.
- What do you mean "shit"?
Danny, I can drive a damn sight
better than you can.
Just not in the shitcan we got.
Oh, yeah? Well, Forrest,
he don't wanna hear about it.
Yeah, well...
the hell with Forrest.
I'm sick of being his house dog.
You gonna tell him that?
or you want me to do that, too?
You all right there, Jack?
Shut up, Howard.
Forrest ain't got no aspirations.
He still sleeps on a mattress on the floor
like a fucking Chinaman.
You might wanna watch your mouth there,
little brother.
Fuck off, Howard.
- Oh, come on.
- Stop. Stop.
It's...
Where are you going with that stuff?
Church.
Hell, you better take
it easy on that jar then!
He gave a peace
of the world
Let us pray.
If any man loved the world,
the love of the Father
is not in him.
For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh
and the lust of the eyes
and the pride of life
is not of the Father,
but is of the world.
Amen.
Thirty-nine, top.
Too much rust
in the tank, maybe.
Or lead.
Mind if I come in?
Don't expect no biscuits
coming out around here.
- Who's that?
- Aunt Winnie.
Why don't you tell Aunt Winnie
this is not a social visit.
Well, I ain't sure
that'll do no good, sir.
She ain't right in the head.
Three things you gotta tell us, son.
Where's the still, where's the
liquor and where's the money?
He don't have it.
Now who might you be?
That there is Jack Bondurant.
Well, I'll be damned.
I was told I'd find you here.
And look...
...here you are.
Go find the still,
leave us alone.
So, the runt of the litter.
You boys don't get it, do you?
Look at me, son.
Oh, you're a peach.
What's going on?
Come closer.
Step forward.
Stop right there.
Get up.
I thought they said you
Bondurant boys were
a bunch of hard-boiled
sons of bitches.
Oh, this is terrible.
This just won't do.
My brothers are gonna get you.
They're gonna kill you.
Is that so?
It's not gonna help right now, is it?
Why don't you tell
those brothers of yours
we're coming for them next.
You tell 'em.
No more!
No more, please.
Please.
Don't touch me!
Next time I come down real hard.
All right.
So you want to
get into this racket.
But I see you sitting there,
looking like somebody's
punching bag.
So I ask you...
...what do you
intend to do now?
- What do I intend to-do?
- Yeah.
You.
You expect somebody else
to handle it?
- No.
- Howard, maybe?
- That ain't what I meant.
- What did you mean?
I don't need no help.
I'm sorry?
- I don't need no help.
- Oh, you don't?
Here it is.
As long as you are my brother,
you will never let this happen
again, do you understand?
- I get it.
- I don't think you do.
What if I can't?
I mean, I ain't... I'm not
built like you and Howard.
I ain't never been like you.
It's all right.
Jack...
...it is not the violence
that sets a man apart.
All right? It is the distance
that he is prepared to go.
Jack, look at me.
We're survivors.
We control the fear.
And without the fear,
we are all
as good as dead.
Do you understand?
- Do you?
- Rakes told me to tell you
they're coming for you next.
Hm.
Yeah, well, they'll be back,
you can be sure of that.
Um...
A present from
your preacher friend.
You gonna open it?
Fuck you, Howard.
Ah, damn.
Forrest Bondurant.
It seems you've been involved
in certain illegal activities.
illegal activities?
Look here, Forrest,
if you play ball with us,
we can make this here
summons disappear.
Are you trying
to shake me down, Henry?
I'm just the messenger here,
Forrest.
Have you met Howard?
Oh, what?
You gonna shoot me, huh?
Howard! Howard!
Huh? Huh?
Huh? You gonna
hurt my brother?!
Huh? You trying to intimidate
us, Sheriff? Huh?
The Bondurants?
All right now.
That's enough now.
You gonna sell out
like them other cocksuckers?
Huh?
That's enough now.
Howard, that's enough.
All right.
You old piece of shit.
Now, y'all oughta know better
than to come around here
when Howard's been on the
stump whiskey for a few days.
I think you might wanna
get out of here.
You give my regards
- to Special Deputy Rakes.
- Oh, yeah.
It ain't nothing personal, Henry.
He got that
special look in his eye.
No I don't.
- Yes, he does.
- Yes, you do.
I saw you
at the Bondurant place.
You're not from around here.
Chicago, right?
You were a dancer up there.
The Apex Club, wasn't it?
Did a little number
with feathers, I believe.
Something troubling you?
Get out of my way.
Oh, you don't
need to worry about me.
I ain't the kind to
drink from a greasy cup.
Where's Jack?
I've seen him swanning
around in Daddy's old suit.
- Listen, Howard.
- Yeah?
I need you here
with me tonight...
I got some business with
a couple out-of-towners
I never dealt with before.
- Yeah? Where they from?
- Chicago.
Yeah, well, me and Danny, we just
gotta stop by the stills first.
You just be here by 11:00 now.
You got that?
I got it.
When have I ever let you down?
How'd you like to come
for a ride with me sometime?
You must be jingle-brained
if you think I'm gonna
get in a car
with the likes of you.
Anyway, you oughta be worried
if my father catches you here.
Talking to me.
He's just in the feed store, there.
Why'd I need to be worried?
You know, coming to
the church meeting like that.
And bustin' out of there
like a crazy person.
Are you affected in the head?
Hold on, now, look here.
Look.
Crazy person wear a suit
as fancy as this?
Still don't explain why
you acted like a lunatic.
I didn't want
my feet washed, is all.
- I know who you are.
- Yeah? Who's that?
One of them Bondurant boys,
and that's enough.
There ain't many that have
a good word to say about you.
- Yeah?
- Except some rubbish about a legend.
Yeah.
About you guys being invincible
or some such nonsense.
- Say that word again. What'd you say?
- Invincible.
Well, shoot, I don't know
what that means.
Sounds good, though.
My daddy thinks you boys are
the worst thing ever to hit Franklin.
Well, what would your daddy know?
You sure got a funny way of courting,
Jack Bondurant.
That is what you're doing, right?
Courting?
Yeah.
All right, then.
You tell your daddy I said hi.
- Oh sh...
- Thank you.
- Oh!
- Woo!
Oh, shit!
Hey, Red.
Where them feathers at?
He's a crip.
Don't worry about it.
Hey, Forrest.
All right, go tell Maggie
to shut her down.
All right now, that's enough.
Come on, now, get out of here.
I paid for another jar
and she won't give it.
- And then the bitch done me.
- No, you didn't.
We gonna buy near 100 gallons
of your liquor.
Now you ain't gonna
throw in some extra?
You ain't buying a goddamn thing.
Now go on, get out of here.
He pulled a gun on her, then she
pulled the knife around and cut him.
Did you pull a gun on this woman?
Forrest!
I may be a cripple boy,
you sack of shit
but I'll blow your goddamn
brains out if you move!
All right now. Sorry.
Yeah.
Goddamn you, Howard.
Well, you best be getting home.
OK.
Are you sure
you're all right?
A bit too much whoopee
for one night, I guess.
Yeah.
Bye, Forrest.
Hm. Well that don't
make no sense.
Well, I don't see nothin'...
Now you got trouble.
Fuckin' hillbilly.
[The Bootleggers featuring
Emmylou Harris and Liela Moss:
"So Youll Aim Towards the Sky"]
Damn.
Forrest?
There's something
you need to know.
Mm, now we're
gonna have some fun.
You can come in.
But don't let him talk.
Hey, Forrest.
Them doctors are saying
you walked in here.
All the ways
from Blackwater Station.
Through the damn snow.
Did you get 'em, Forrest?
'Cause I want to be there when you do.
I'll hold them down myself.
Walking all the way here from
- Blackwater Station...
- Jack, why don't you shut up a minute?
Um...
You should've been there, Howard.
Look what they did to you.
I'm leaving, Forrest.
Huh.
Well, it ain't really the quiet
life you're looking for?
Those people, Forrest...
People like them,
they're why I left Chicago.
I got out and ran.
Come here, Maggie.
Now this has nothing
to do with you, you hear?
Nothing at all.
Did you check out
of that place yet?
I want you to come stay
at the station for a while.
With those guys still around,
you're best off close to us.
We don't want to
see you getting hurt.
"We?"
You can, uh...
You can use the spare room.
I know a fella across the county line,
take your whole run
for five dollars on the gallon.
- Baloney.
- No, Howard, it's a fact.
- Cricket got a message to him.
- Five dollars?
- Yep.
- Beat it, Jack.
I'm not in the mind
for your horseshit.
I'll do the driving, Howard,
you ain't gotta worry about nothing.
You?
- And Cricket.
- And Cricket,
that twisted little gimp. You're
gonna deal with Floyd Banner?
You're a goddamn house dog, Jack.
You sweep the floors.
You got no goddamn vision, Howard.
Go on, scram, get outta here.
Hey what's eatin' you anyway, huh?
The fact that you let your own brother,
old Forrest, down?
Shut your mouth!
What you doin', Jack?
Checkin' on you.
- I'm all right.
- All right, then.
Yeah, I'm all right.
- Yeah, I was just worried.
- I'll be home tomorrow.
Go on, now.
I'll see you tomorrow, then.
- Hey.
- What the hell are you doin', Jack?
Come here and help me with this.
Shit, Jack, are you off your nuts?
- I'm done waiting for table scraps.
- Forrest is gonna throttle you.
Don't you worry about that, grab a box.
You just call Gummy Walsh.
You tell him we're
bringing a big load.
Two hundred gallons at least.
- "We?"
- Yeah.
You mean you and me?
Well, hell, I need backup, Cricket.
You my partner or what?
Shit.
Grab that tarp.
Shit.
Jesus, Cricket, you look like you're
about to shit yourself a kitten.
Whoa, you wouldn't really
shoot that thing.
If anybody gonna
give me cause to, I might.
- Oh, bullshit, I don't believe you.
- Absolutely.
Pow, right between the eyes.
What is that?
The transmission?
It don't sound like it.
Did you put gas in it?
- Did you put gas in the truck?
- Shit!
You forgot to put gas in it. Well,
what the fuck are we gonna do now?
Uh...
- Huh?
- Uh...
I'm sorry, Jack!
I had other things on my mind.
Like robbing your brothers,
for instance.
other things on your mind? All you
had to do was put gas in the truck!
All you had to-do
was put gas in it!
I got me an idea.
I got an idea.
Now we're just two bootleggers
waiting for the ATU!
This road is crawling
with cops, Cricket!
You know that we're
just sitting ducks?
- You gotta be kidding me!
- What, you got a better idea?
You're gonna put moonshine
in the gas tank?
Come on!
Oh, shit!
Yeah! Yeah!
You must be Cricket Pate, huh?
Jack, meet Gummy Walsh.
So what you got?
Well, sir, we got 100 gallons
of quality White Lightning,
and 100 finest Crazy Apple.
- Eel juice from Franklin County?
- Yes, sir.
All right.
It's all right.
What you got there,
a little pea-shooter?
OK, now walk.
- Walk.
- We had a deal.
You're one stupid sack of shit,
ain't you, boy?
Can't we work something out?
That how you hillbillies do business?
With a pop-gun?
I said fucking walk!
That's far enough.
All right, you're next.
You dug them boys
a hole like I told you?
Meet Floyd Banner.
Ain't no honor in the business anymore.
- Shoot 'em.
- Wait, wait.
Best stand back, fellas, unless
you wanna get your suits all splattered.
These country boys
can make a real mess.
Wait, wait, wait!
My name's Jack Bondurant.
I come from Blackwater Station.
That's impressive.
I'll give you four dollars,
but keep it to yourself.
Those boys out front,
they only get but three and a half.
I was told five.
Let's get it unloaded.
I respect you Bondurants
standing up to
that Commonwealth's District Attorney.
He's got everybody in his pocket.
He takes a shit and
half of Virginia falls out his ass.
There's something you ought to know.
I heard what happened
to your brother, Forrest.
Them cocksuckers that
did it used to work for me.
- They work for you?
- They left my outfit.
Got an offer from some
slick-looking deputy. He wore perfume.
Charlie Rakes?
Yeah, that was him.
What happened to Forrest...
...had nothing to do with me.
Make sure you tell Forrest that.
Tell him Floyd Banner says hello.
Give him this.
Say it's a gift
from the Midnight Coal Company.
Yeah. Now I remember
them Bondurant boys.
That boy's brother,
he's the one who walked
They say he goes around drinking
white mule through a hole in his throat.
I got every lawman in three
fucking states up my ass!
The last thing I need
is some hard-ass crackers
pulling a damn blood feud on me!
Now get this sack of shit out of here!
You're gonna hold on, Forrest.
You gotta hear me out.
I sold your whole lot
to Floyd Banner in one damn go.
Would have taken you a month
to off-load that.
Not only that, I sold it
for five dollars on the barrel.
That's twice what you get.
Right here?
That's two thousand dollars,
minus my commission.
Look at you.
You think you're
so goddamn smart.
You're swanning around
like you're Al Capone.
With your new best friend.
You take a good look, Jack.
That's your new best friend.
Yeah, you're wrong there, too.
Special Deputy Rakes was the one
hired the men to do that to you.
- Who told you that?
- Floyd Banner himself.
Oh, Floyd Banner himself.
Well, that must be gospel.
What's that?
It's a gift.
From Floyd Banner.
It's an address, Forrest.
For where you can find them
bastards who cut your throat.
I say we get 'em tonight.
Anything else I can
do for you, Forrest?
Sweep your fuckin' floors, maybe?
I got somewhere I gotta be.
Can I come in?
- Better be quick then.
- I'll be quick.
Got me one of them cameras.
- Stand right here.
- Here?
Lord, if my daddy caught me with one
of those things, he'd murder me.
You gotta keep steady now,
so as I can get it.
All right.
Why'd you stop fooling around?
That's how the movie stars
do it in California.
All right.
One, two, three.
- Now you.
- All right.
Ready?
How'd I look?
Like trouble, Jack Bondurant.
I got me a new car.
Forrest?
Hey.
Huh?
- It's nice, isn't it?
- Yeah.
Where's Forrest?
- What?
- Jack.
- Have they gone without me?
- You don't have to be like...
Shit. I found out where they was.
You know how they say
you ain't got no balls, Jack?
They was wrong.
You send these to Rakes.
You're looking real sharp there, kid.
The trumpet has been blown,
the battlement stormed,
and the walls have come tumbling down.
Who's there?
I kept hearing the country
was in a real bad way.
Folks outta work, people dusted out,
losing their homes and
their farms and all.
But from my perspective,
the situation was something
different entirely.
once we started shifting that
liquor across the county line,
that money just started
pouring in.
That don't mean the runs were easy.
Rakes was coming at us day and night.
Go on, boy, gimme a reason.
Y'all get the fuck out of Franklin.
Then Cricket,
he had one of his ideas.
He stuck a souped-up
carburetor in that Ford.
It was thing of pure beauty.
He's gifted, that boy.
Me, well, ain't no one could say
I couldn't drive a damn car.
- Forrest, dance with me!
- I ain't dancing to this.
Come on...
Meanwhile,
Howard and me hammered out
four 300 gallon submarine stills.
They were the biggest stills
Franklin had ever seen
and we hid them deep in the woods
where Rakes could never find them.
Come on, you gotta look tough, Cricket.
Get off my property, boy!
I catch you near my daughter again,
God Himself won't
be able to help you!
- You hear me?!
- One, two, three.
By that time,
Jimmy and them others caved in,
made deals with Wardell.
All except our cousin, Spoons.
But Rakes took him
out of the picture altogether.
We Bondurants,
we were the last ones standing.
You just gonna watch me forever?
Um...
Uh... What...
What you doin'?
Damned if you don't
keep a girl waiting.
Forrest?
Now hold on, Bertha, before you
start talking about your soul,
vanity and all that sort of stuff, I wanna
make sure you understand something.
This here vehicle,
you know what that is?
That's a Rumbleseat Roadster.
It's a Ford V8.
Not many in the world get a
chance to drive in such a thing.
It's only fair of me to warn you
before you open that door
and get inside, nothing's gonna
be the same as it was before.
Your whole life is
gonna change forever.
Now you can sit there on that gate
and you can shake your head,
talking about "Daddy this" and
"Daddy that" till you're blue in the face
or you can climb down off that gate,
you can live a little bit,
- you can get inside my car...
- Hey, Jack...
Hold on, Bertha, this is the best part.
- There's kudzu fields just up...
- Jack.
Yeah?
You still got the price tag
on your coat.
No, I don't.
- Come here.
- Where?
Jeepers, Jack.
It sure goes fast.
Fast?
Now we're going fast.
Don't you like it?
It don't matter if I like it,
I can't wear this.
I just wanted to
get you something nice.
Where do you think I'd be able
to wear something like that?
I'll take you somewhere so you can
wear something like that every day.
Why don't you try it on?
What? Here?
- Yeah, ain't nobody around.
- You're around.
I... I'll just... listen to my radio,
look out at this tree here.
I won't look, you can go back
behind the car and put it on.
All right, seeing as
you bought it and all.
You better not look.
- You better not be looking.
- I'm not looking.
Just over here at this
woodpecker on a tree.
Well?
How do I look?
Come on.
Oh, shit, Jack. Goddamn.
I got you, you dumb hick.
Watch your step, here.
Whatcha think?
- What do I think about what?
- My place of employment.
- Hey.
- Hot socks, Jack.
What's she doing here?
Miss Bertha Minnix,
meet my partner, the Cricket Pate.
Pleased to meet you, Cricket Pate.
The pleasure's all mine, miss.
Boy, oh, boy, Jack, your
brothers are gonna shit their grits.
Don't you worry about it.
This is it.
- It's a real hideout.
- Howard's up in the look-out.
It's the biggest distillation
set-up in these hills.
We're able to put
out 1,000 gallons a week.
No one around here comes
close to doing that.
You're an outlaw, Jack.
No, that's just a matter
of perspective.
I'm just doing what
any man around here would do
if he had the same
strength of character.
You got it all figured out?
Yeah.
Damned if your face don't
belong on a coin, Bertha.
- Jack.
- I mean it.
I ain't never seen nothing
as beautiful as you right here.
Not never.
I wish I had the damn words to tell you.
You're doing just fine.
You're a damn fool, Jack.
- Jack!
- What?
- It's the law!
- What?
The law! The ATU!
It's the law!
Come here, come here.
- What the hell was that?
- We gotta go!
All right, look.
You take her. Take her.
- Go to the Station, I'll meet you there.
- Jack...
Go. Go, go, goddamn it, go!
- Keep moving!
- Where the fuck is that coming from?
Mm...
Go, go, go!
- Do you think we scared them off?
- I don't know.
What the hell's that?
- Goddamn it, listen!
- Shit.
Huh?
Fuck!
- I'm gonna kill you, motherfucker.
- Hey, Rakes!
Remember me?
- You're not gonna shoot me.
- Oh, yeah?
Look at you. Boo- hoo.
OK, let's go. Close in!
Goddamn nance.
- Move in!
- Come on, Jack!
Go, go, go!
Get those sons of bitches! Fuck!
- Good job, boys.
- Thank you, sir.
They found Cricket Pate
and some gal.
- The cripple boy?
- Yep.
- Hiding out in the woods.
- You all right?
Come on, miss,
let's get you home, now.
Come on.
Don't worry, miss, he'll be fine.
Keep on going.
That friend of yours,
he called me a nance.
Why would he say that?
I don't know, sir.
Maybe 'cause you smell funny.
What's wrong with
your damn legs, anyway?
I got rickets when I was a kid.
Left me a little hinky.
That's it. Down a bit.
Here, just goin here.
What are we...
Why do you want me to goin there?
It's fine. Come on.
He makes a goddamn mess
on Charlie Rakes' shirt!
He called me a fucking nance!
Forrest, I never meant to...
Go on, you never meant what?
To walk around like you own the place?
Or like you're...
...you're public enemy number one now?
Forrest, I was just
trying to make sure...
Letting you in was a mistake.
- I'm sorry.
- Hm?
I said I'm sorry. I'm sorry
they damn blew up your stills.
I'm sorry they got the car.
- I'm sorry they took your money.
- My money?
Hold on. My money?
This ain't about the goddamn money.
This is about a goddamn principle.
Might be
he's had enough, Forrest.
Yeah, as for you,
you dumb son of a bitch...
I just heard...
They got Cricket.
- What do you mean?
- They killed him.
Cricket's dead, Jack.
That boy never hurt a... fly.
He was a good boy.
[The Bootleggers featuring
Ralph Stanley and Emmylou Harris:
"Fire in the Blood/ Snake Song"]
Them bastards!
Forrest.
Uh, we just want to say how...
How sorry we are about Cricket.
We all liked that boy.
And whatever was done to him goes
beyond the point of forgiveness.
Yeah, well there's a lot
that can't be forgiven.
All right, Forrest, I know
what we done wasn't right...
You sold us out, Jimmy.
It's time y'all picked a side.
Jack.
- What do you want?
- I need to talk to Forrest.
- No you don't.
- Ja...
You talk to me now.
Now, looky here, Jack.
I just want y'all to know
that neither me nor my officers
had anything to do with
what happened to Cricket.
- He was a good boy...
- Just your best buddy, Rakes.
He ain't my buddy.
What he done to that boy...
...there can be no absolution.
You come all the way out here
to tell me that?
I'm risking something being here, Jack.
Now... I come here to tell you
that what happened to Cricket
ain't the end of something, but the start
of something. You understand me?
Mason Wardell,
he's gotten Rakes to bring in
extra ATU officers from the city.
They're gonna shut down
the whole damn county.
They already got me and
my deputies close down the bridge.
No ones getting in
and no ones getting out.
- Where is Rakes?
- Never you mind.
- I asked you a question.
- I'm warning you, son.
You keep your voice down.
You better lay low.
At least till this blows over.
This is a war they is waging.
You ain't gonna survive.
You best get out of here now.
Go on.
Jack!
Forrest!
- Ah, shit.
- Hey, wake up!
Damn it, Jack.
What are you doing?
Well, Jack's gone off half-cocked.
That's it, then.
Forrest, Jack done took off
in Cricket's car!
Calm down, Howard.
Go fetch the car.
He got trouble
written all over him.
Come on, Danny, I said get up!
I gotta watch you die all over again.
What you talkin' about?
I gotta find you lying
in a pool of your own blood?
Drag your damn body into my car?
Drive you down to the hospital,
your throat cut from ear to ear?
You did that?
I'm not doing it again.
I thought I walked.
Isn't that just like you
to believe your own damn legend?
Come on, Forrest,
get a move on!
Wait a minute.
You came back here that night?
They see you?
Forrest, come on!
- Then what happened?
- Nothing.
I asked you a question.
I told you.
Look at me.
Maggie, look at me.
- What happened when you got back?
- Not a damn thing.
Now you know.
Not a goddamn one of them bastards
ever did a damn thing to me.
Forrest, come on!
Son of a bitch.
- Wasn't that Jack Bondurant?
- Shit!
It's that Bondurant boy!
Where's that murdering piece of shit?!
He's got a gun.
Rakes! You motherfucker,
where are you?!
- Where are you?!
- Just hold it right there, Jack.
- Rakes, you bastard!
- You looking for me, son?
Stop!
Rakes!
Deputy! Stand down, deputy!
- You are one stupid boy!
- Put down your weapon.
Forrest.
Hey!
Kill those sons of bitches!
Hold your fire!
Huh? How's that feel?
Come on, Danny.
Cease fire!
Cease fire, deputies!
Take that, you shit-kicking rubes!
Jack!
- Get him out of there!
- Howard!
I'll teach you to mess with
Special Deputy Charlie Rakes.
Sheriff?
You are nothing now!
That goes for all you hicks!
Stand down, everybody!
Stand down!
Cease fire!
Hold your fire. Jimmy, please.
Let's stop this right here.
No one else needs to get hurt.
Time to die, you chicken-shit
sons of bitches!
Stand down, deputy!
It's time for me
to take out the garbage!
- Goddamn it, Rakes, stand down!
- Immortal?
- Immortal?! What a fucking laugh!
- Deputy!
Fuck!
Someone help Forrest!
Now get the fuck out of Franklin.
You gonna let him walk away?
Get out of my way! All of you!
- Now, everybody...
- Fuck!
- Just stay calm.
- Come on, just take it easy.
I work for the Commonwealth's attorney!
Stay where you are, Jimmy.
You're candy-assed motherfuckers!
Every single one of you!
You bastard!
- Forrest! Forrest!
- Goddamn it, stop shooting!
- Holster your weapons!
- No!
Get some help!
Somebody get some help!
What was he thinking?
You fucking bastards
are gonna pay for this!
Rakes!
Jack!
Now just hold it right there, Jack!
Gimme the gun.
Now, everybody just stay calm.
Let it be, Jimmy.
Jack.
Jack!
Fuck.
Christ.
Son of a bitch.
All right then.
In December 1933,
Prohibition finished.
So ended the great Franklin County
Moonshine Conspiracy,
as it became known.
That same year,
Commonwealth Attorney Mason Wardell
was arrested on charges of corruption.
A couple years later,
Howard moved to Martinville,
found work in the textile mills there.
Surprised us all by getting hitched,
having a whole bunch of children.
Bertha Minnix,
the preacher's daughter, well,
that gal always had
a rebellious streak in her.
We got married the following year.
I ran my daddy's farm.
Raised cattle,
grew tobacco.
All right, then, here we go.
After he got shot at the bridge,
Forrest spent two weeks
recuperating in the hospital.
Then he walked out of there
and married Maggie.
- You gonna toast, Howard?
- Yeah.
Neither of them told no one.
I only found out years later.
- Cheers.
- Cheers.
He was like that, Forrest.
Don't you boys be making a commotion
when you come upstairs, all right?
- Yes, ma'am.
- I'm going to bed.
Come on, you, up to bed.
Night.
Good night, boys.
Hey, come on, Forrest.
Come on.
Why don't you show us a dance?
Come on, Uncle Forrest, get up.
Come on!
- Come on.
- I ain't dancing for you two jackasses.
Come on, huh?
I'm gonna go get me some air.
- Do one move.
- No.
- Here we go, here we go! Oh, oh...
- Come on...
There ain't enough space.
Let him walk it off.
Yep, I'm gonna...
I'm going to bed, too.
It's too damn cold to be sitting
out here on this porch.
Midnight's upon us already.
Night, Forrest.
- Night, Jack.
- Good night.
Forrest once said
nothing could kill us,
that we could never die.
And back then I think
I actually believed it.
Hell, I know Forrest did.
'Cause no matter what
this world flung at him
he seemed to be able to just
stand up and keep on going.
Getting a little more bent,
a little more twisted each time.
But nobody leaves
this world alive.
Not even Forrest.
And in the end,
it was dumb luck
and pneumonia that got him.
It was as simple
and indifferent as that.
Nowadays, we Bondurants
abide by the law.
People ain't trying to cut our throats,
stab us, shoot us no more.
Them days are long gone.
Sometimes when I'm out on the porch,
just sitting around doing nothing,
hell...
...it sure does get
real quiet around here.
Just pull the damn trigger.
I can't.
My brother Forrest once said,
"Nothing can kill us.
We can't never die. "
The reason being
that in the great war,
my eldest brother, Howard,
saw his entire battalion
drown in the sea.
Every last one of them.
He was the only survivor.
And Forrest, well,
that same year,
Spanish Lady flu hit Franklin,
damn near wiped out
the entire state.
It got Ma and Pa and Forrest
but against all the odds,
he somehow managed
to fight it off.
So you could see
why Forrest felt that way.
Me and my brothers
are moonshiners.
Bootleggers.
In 1920, they passed
the Prohibition Act
making the sale
of alcohol illegal.
Well, at least
it was supposed to be.
You want a case, Sheriff?
- Morning, Forrest.
- Pure corn whiskey.
That there's the white lightning, Sheriff.
It'll come at you like a knife,
pointy end first,
sharp and hot all the way down.
Aw, damn it. Give me two.
All right, then.
- You all right there?
- Thanks, boys.
Always happy to oblige
an officer of the law.
They called Franklin
the wettest county in the world
on account of almost everybody
was making the stuff.
Now, you can make moonshine whiskey
from just about anything.
Whoa! Whoa, whoa!
Hey, Selma.
Turnips, pumpkins,
blackberries, cornmeal, tree bark.
- Anything.
- All right, then.
He's so fucking sick, man, can't get
himself out the bed to tend the stills.
- You want me to take it up to him?
- No, I can do it.
And at night, in them hills,
you could see them fires
from the stills burning
like lights on a damn Christmas tree.
over the mountains, in the cities,
there was the biggest crime
wave this country'd ever seen.
And all that illegal liquor
was flowing down from the hills
to the cities by the truckload.
Gangsters were just scooping money
off the streets like candy.
They had men like Al Capone,
Tommy Maloy,
that mad dog Floyd Banner.
They just moved in and took over.
Meanwhile, we were hauling stuff around
in our old, beat-up jalopies.
All right now, Jack,
I want you to stay here.
- What?
- Stay in the truck.
Ain't like someone's gonna steal
this piece of shit, Forrest.
Just do what you're told, Jack.
All right, Forrest, go on.
Amen! Amen!
Here we go. All right, then.
Get some of this.
Welcome, welcome.
How're you boys doing?
Sorry to hear about Little Bean,
Ida Belle.
You know Little Bean loved
his gals and his giggle water.
She sure is giving him
one hell of a send-off.
Give me your money, boy.
Yeah, you do as I say
- or I'm gonna cut you.
- Hold on, now, I ain't got nothing.
I'm just a driver.
You boys staying?
No, we gotta be getting off, Ida Belle.
Come on, Forrest, one damn drink.
No, we better be getting back now.
You ever seen a Harlem sunset?
Well, I'm fixing
to cut one right into you...
I ain't got nothing.
...if you don't hand over
that goddamn money.
Motherfucker.
Here, I'll take care of this.
Hey you, come on now,
you don't want to do this.
Why don't you put that knife away,
take you and your friends on home?
I'd listen to him if I was you.
You the boss?
You just sold a load to those
dinges in there, didn't you?
You hand over that cash or I'm gonna
cut some daylight into you.
Listen here, mister.
We got no way of
understanding this world.
We got about as much sense of it
as a bird flying in the sky.
There is a lot that bird don't know.
But it don't change the fact that
the world is happening to him
all the same.
What I'm trying to say is...
...is that the course of your life,
it is changing.
- You don't even see it.
- What are you talking about?
Let's go!
Yep.
That's what he's talking about.
Yeah, all right now.
You all right there, Jack?
Just caught me off guard is all.
You still good to drive?
- Fuck you, Howard.
- Oh, whatever you say,
little doggie.
All right, Jack, come on,
we gotta go set up over here.
Thank you.
Finest apple?
All right, then.
Are you gonna talk to Forrest about
taking some of me and Cricket's liquor?
- We're working on somethin' big.
- What do you mean talk to him?
About letting us in, Howard.
Not with that damn popskull shit
you been cooking up.
- We're still perfecting it.
- Perfecting it, my ass,
Jack, that shit
ain't fit to slop hogs.
Forrest don't want you involved, is all.
Why is that?
'Cause he don't think you got the grit.
Gimme another jar, Jack. Huh?
You might wanna slow down some,
Howard. We're trying to sell this stuff.
- Who is that?
- She's one of them crazies
from that church at Burnt Chimney.
Her daddy over there,
he's gonna be the preacher.
You wanna get yourself a crowbar, Jack,
if you wanna get inside of her.
She don't
look that crazy.
Her daddy don't look too happy, neither.
All right, now.
Jack, go on and
take this around the back.
Store whatever's left in the shed.
You too, Howard.
- Come on, Jack.
- Yeah.
Are you Forrest Bondurant?
Um...
I'm Maggie Beaufort.
They say in town you're looking for
someone to help out 'round the place.
Is that position still vacant?
Forgive me for asking, but, um...
...what does a lady like you...
...want here?
The city can grind a girl down.
Gets to a point where you start
looking for somewhere quiet.
Damn.
Well, Mr. Bondurant...
...do I get the job?
Quick. Quick.
Hey!
Cricket!
Hey!
Hey!
You ain't never gonna believe
what I just seen.
Floyd Banner shoot the tires
out of a goddamn ATU car
right smack in the middle of
town with a goddamn Tommy gun.
- Floyd Banner?
- Floyd Banner.
Oh, hey, look here. In the middle
of all that, I was thinking about you.
Got you one of these shell cases, Cricket.
- Oh, thanks, Jack!
- Yeah.
Figured we could put holes in it,
you know.
Put a chain through it, hang it around
our necks for luck or something.
Floyd Banner.
He looked like he had direction, vision.
You got smoke coming out the cabin.
Jesus Christ, Cricket.
- This gonna work?
- Naturally,
I'm still messing with
the recipe, of course.
And with this set-up through the pipes,
no one'll even know it's down here.
The man tucks away his bottle,
out he goes.
Well... Partner, I don't know if
that's the stupidest thing I ever seen
or you're some kind
of damn genius.
- ooh.
- Mm-hm.
Did Jimmy pay us?
- Yup.
- He did?
Thank you.
Hi, Forrest.
This here's the new Special Deputy.
He's been brought in
from the city to help us out.
You know, make sure things go smooth.
What things might they be?
Sorry, something amuse you?
My name is Charlie Rakes,
I'm from Chicago.
That damn brother of yours,
is he somewhere about?
Who's in the car?
That there's the new
Commonwealth's Attorney, Mason Wardell.
He wants to work it out so everybody
gets to do some business.
Henry,
go see what Mr. Wardell wants.
Pete, who the hell is this son of a bitch?
Me? I'm the one who's going to make
your life real difficult from now on
if you don't toe the line, country boy.
Don't you ever touch me again.
All right, all right.
Forrest, it already settled.
The whole county's gonna
get on board eventually.
Start at $20 a week, $30 a load
and that gets you free passage
throughout the whole county.
- No one'll bother you.
- Don't nobody bother me now.
Mr. Wardell, he'd like a jar
of your finest apple brandy.
That be all right?
Can I help you, son?
Yeah.
You send your clown
with the bow tie around here again,
and I guarantee you'll personally
pull a cleaver out of his fucking skull.
You understand me?
You're gonna regret this, Forrest.
He's already regretting it,
he's just too ignorant to know it yet.
Go on, go inside now.
You thinking of drawing on me?
Say your piece, Jimmy.
I got a business to run.
All right, Forrest.
Now we got a chance
to make a good stack of money
here while the getting is good.
But for things to run smooth,
you got to grease the tracks.
Yeah, I hear what
you're saying, Jimmy, and...
...we go back a long way, so Im not
gonna make a big deal out of this,
but, uh...
...I'm a Bondurant.
And we don't lay down for nobody.
We'll continue to operate
free and clear here, as always.
Me, I'll never pay no money
to no Mason Wardell
or the next damn bloodsucker
come after him.
I never have, I never will.
I'm sorry you feel that way,
Forrest.
Jimmy, do you have something
that you really wanna say to me?
You can't do it
the old way no more.
I remember there was a time
you had some balls, Jimmy.
Well, I guess we'll see what happens.
Gentlemen.
Look, Deputy, we've got
something of a problem here.
It's Special Deputy, and
I don't see a problem at all.
I hear these mountain boys
have got, uh...
...Injun blood in them.
Cherokee. This would explain
why they're a little...
...animalistic in their nature.
I don't rightly understand
what you mean.
But there's a feeling around
these parts that Forrest Bondurant
is different than other folks.
- Different?
- Indestructible.
Do you mean "immortal"?
Shit. You fucking hicks are
a sideshow unto yourselves.
Sheriff, you have any idea
what a Thompson submachine gun
does to immortal"?
Well, this ain't Chicago.
You can't just shoot him.
Do that, people around here
will string us up from a tree.
Do I look stupid to you?
I've been brought in to do a job.
And I know just who to start with.
You know something?
I don't much like you.
Yeah, well, not many do.
- Gimme some of that.
- Yeah, it's good.
I could run them blockades.
- You? A blockader? Shit.
- What do you mean "shit"?
Danny, I can drive a damn sight
better than you can.
Just not in the shitcan we got.
Oh, yeah? Well, Forrest,
he don't wanna hear about it.
Yeah, well...
the hell with Forrest.
I'm sick of being his house dog.
You gonna tell him that?
or you want me to do that, too?
You all right there, Jack?
Shut up, Howard.
Forrest ain't got no aspirations.
He still sleeps on a mattress on the floor
like a fucking Chinaman.
You might wanna watch your mouth there,
little brother.
Fuck off, Howard.
- Oh, come on.
- Stop. Stop.
It's...
Where are you going with that stuff?
Church.
Hell, you better take
it easy on that jar then!
He gave a peace
of the world
Let us pray.
If any man loved the world,
the love of the Father
is not in him.
For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh
and the lust of the eyes
and the pride of life
is not of the Father,
but is of the world.
Amen.
Thirty-nine, top.
Too much rust
in the tank, maybe.
Or lead.
Mind if I come in?
Don't expect no biscuits
coming out around here.
- Who's that?
- Aunt Winnie.
Why don't you tell Aunt Winnie
this is not a social visit.
Well, I ain't sure
that'll do no good, sir.
She ain't right in the head.
Three things you gotta tell us, son.
Where's the still, where's the
liquor and where's the money?
He don't have it.
Now who might you be?
That there is Jack Bondurant.
Well, I'll be damned.
I was told I'd find you here.
And look...
...here you are.
Go find the still,
leave us alone.
So, the runt of the litter.
You boys don't get it, do you?
Look at me, son.
Oh, you're a peach.
What's going on?
Come closer.
Step forward.
Stop right there.
Get up.
I thought they said you
Bondurant boys were
a bunch of hard-boiled
sons of bitches.
Oh, this is terrible.
This just won't do.
My brothers are gonna get you.
They're gonna kill you.
Is that so?
It's not gonna help right now, is it?
Why don't you tell
those brothers of yours
we're coming for them next.
You tell 'em.
No more!
No more, please.
Please.
Don't touch me!
Next time I come down real hard.
All right.
So you want to
get into this racket.
But I see you sitting there,
looking like somebody's
punching bag.
So I ask you...
...what do you
intend to do now?
- What do I intend to-do?
- Yeah.
You.
You expect somebody else
to handle it?
- No.
- Howard, maybe?
- That ain't what I meant.
- What did you mean?
I don't need no help.
I'm sorry?
- I don't need no help.
- Oh, you don't?
Here it is.
As long as you are my brother,
you will never let this happen
again, do you understand?
- I get it.
- I don't think you do.
What if I can't?
I mean, I ain't... I'm not
built like you and Howard.
I ain't never been like you.
It's all right.
Jack...
...it is not the violence
that sets a man apart.
All right? It is the distance
that he is prepared to go.
Jack, look at me.
We're survivors.
We control the fear.
And without the fear,
we are all
as good as dead.
Do you understand?
- Do you?
- Rakes told me to tell you
they're coming for you next.
Hm.
Yeah, well, they'll be back,
you can be sure of that.
Um...
A present from
your preacher friend.
You gonna open it?
Fuck you, Howard.
Ah, damn.
Forrest Bondurant.
It seems you've been involved
in certain illegal activities.
illegal activities?
Look here, Forrest,
if you play ball with us,
we can make this here
summons disappear.
Are you trying
to shake me down, Henry?
I'm just the messenger here,
Forrest.
Have you met Howard?
Oh, what?
You gonna shoot me, huh?
Howard! Howard!
Huh? Huh?
Huh? You gonna
hurt my brother?!
Huh? You trying to intimidate
us, Sheriff? Huh?
The Bondurants?
All right now.
That's enough now.
You gonna sell out
like them other cocksuckers?
Huh?
That's enough now.
Howard, that's enough.
All right.
You old piece of shit.
Now, y'all oughta know better
than to come around here
when Howard's been on the
stump whiskey for a few days.
I think you might wanna
get out of here.
You give my regards
- to Special Deputy Rakes.
- Oh, yeah.
It ain't nothing personal, Henry.
He got that
special look in his eye.
No I don't.
- Yes, he does.
- Yes, you do.
I saw you
at the Bondurant place.
You're not from around here.
Chicago, right?
You were a dancer up there.
The Apex Club, wasn't it?
Did a little number
with feathers, I believe.
Something troubling you?
Get out of my way.
Oh, you don't
need to worry about me.
I ain't the kind to
drink from a greasy cup.
Where's Jack?
I've seen him swanning
around in Daddy's old suit.
- Listen, Howard.
- Yeah?
I need you here
with me tonight...
I got some business with
a couple out-of-towners
I never dealt with before.
- Yeah? Where they from?
- Chicago.
Yeah, well, me and Danny, we just
gotta stop by the stills first.
You just be here by 11:00 now.
You got that?
I got it.
When have I ever let you down?
How'd you like to come
for a ride with me sometime?
You must be jingle-brained
if you think I'm gonna
get in a car
with the likes of you.
Anyway, you oughta be worried
if my father catches you here.
Talking to me.
He's just in the feed store, there.
Why'd I need to be worried?
You know, coming to
the church meeting like that.
And bustin' out of there
like a crazy person.
Are you affected in the head?
Hold on, now, look here.
Look.
Crazy person wear a suit
as fancy as this?
Still don't explain why
you acted like a lunatic.
I didn't want
my feet washed, is all.
- I know who you are.
- Yeah? Who's that?
One of them Bondurant boys,
and that's enough.
There ain't many that have
a good word to say about you.
- Yeah?
- Except some rubbish about a legend.
Yeah.
About you guys being invincible
or some such nonsense.
- Say that word again. What'd you say?
- Invincible.
Well, shoot, I don't know
what that means.
Sounds good, though.
My daddy thinks you boys are
the worst thing ever to hit Franklin.
Well, what would your daddy know?
You sure got a funny way of courting,
Jack Bondurant.
That is what you're doing, right?
Courting?
Yeah.
All right, then.
You tell your daddy I said hi.
- Oh sh...
- Thank you.
- Oh!
- Woo!
Oh, shit!
Hey, Red.
Where them feathers at?
He's a crip.
Don't worry about it.
Hey, Forrest.
All right, go tell Maggie
to shut her down.
All right now, that's enough.
Come on, now, get out of here.
I paid for another jar
and she won't give it.
- And then the bitch done me.
- No, you didn't.
We gonna buy near 100 gallons
of your liquor.
Now you ain't gonna
throw in some extra?
You ain't buying a goddamn thing.
Now go on, get out of here.
He pulled a gun on her, then she
pulled the knife around and cut him.
Did you pull a gun on this woman?
Forrest!
I may be a cripple boy,
you sack of shit
but I'll blow your goddamn
brains out if you move!
All right now. Sorry.
Yeah.
Goddamn you, Howard.
Well, you best be getting home.
OK.
Are you sure
you're all right?
A bit too much whoopee
for one night, I guess.
Yeah.
Bye, Forrest.
Hm. Well that don't
make no sense.
Well, I don't see nothin'...
Now you got trouble.
Fuckin' hillbilly.
[The Bootleggers featuring
Emmylou Harris and Liela Moss:
"So Youll Aim Towards the Sky"]
Damn.
Forrest?
There's something
you need to know.
Mm, now we're
gonna have some fun.
You can come in.
But don't let him talk.
Hey, Forrest.
Them doctors are saying
you walked in here.
All the ways
from Blackwater Station.
Through the damn snow.
Did you get 'em, Forrest?
'Cause I want to be there when you do.
I'll hold them down myself.
Walking all the way here from
- Blackwater Station...
- Jack, why don't you shut up a minute?
Um...
You should've been there, Howard.
Look what they did to you.
I'm leaving, Forrest.
Huh.
Well, it ain't really the quiet
life you're looking for?
Those people, Forrest...
People like them,
they're why I left Chicago.
I got out and ran.
Come here, Maggie.
Now this has nothing
to do with you, you hear?
Nothing at all.
Did you check out
of that place yet?
I want you to come stay
at the station for a while.
With those guys still around,
you're best off close to us.
We don't want to
see you getting hurt.
"We?"
You can, uh...
You can use the spare room.
I know a fella across the county line,
take your whole run
for five dollars on the gallon.
- Baloney.
- No, Howard, it's a fact.
- Cricket got a message to him.
- Five dollars?
- Yep.
- Beat it, Jack.
I'm not in the mind
for your horseshit.
I'll do the driving, Howard,
you ain't gotta worry about nothing.
You?
- And Cricket.
- And Cricket,
that twisted little gimp. You're
gonna deal with Floyd Banner?
You're a goddamn house dog, Jack.
You sweep the floors.
You got no goddamn vision, Howard.
Go on, scram, get outta here.
Hey what's eatin' you anyway, huh?
The fact that you let your own brother,
old Forrest, down?
Shut your mouth!
What you doin', Jack?
Checkin' on you.
- I'm all right.
- All right, then.
Yeah, I'm all right.
- Yeah, I was just worried.
- I'll be home tomorrow.
Go on, now.
I'll see you tomorrow, then.
- Hey.
- What the hell are you doin', Jack?
Come here and help me with this.
Shit, Jack, are you off your nuts?
- I'm done waiting for table scraps.
- Forrest is gonna throttle you.
Don't you worry about that, grab a box.
You just call Gummy Walsh.
You tell him we're
bringing a big load.
Two hundred gallons at least.
- "We?"
- Yeah.
You mean you and me?
Well, hell, I need backup, Cricket.
You my partner or what?
Shit.
Grab that tarp.
Shit.
Jesus, Cricket, you look like you're
about to shit yourself a kitten.
Whoa, you wouldn't really
shoot that thing.
If anybody gonna
give me cause to, I might.
- Oh, bullshit, I don't believe you.
- Absolutely.
Pow, right between the eyes.
What is that?
The transmission?
It don't sound like it.
Did you put gas in it?
- Did you put gas in the truck?
- Shit!
You forgot to put gas in it. Well,
what the fuck are we gonna do now?
Uh...
- Huh?
- Uh...
I'm sorry, Jack!
I had other things on my mind.
Like robbing your brothers,
for instance.
other things on your mind? All you
had to do was put gas in the truck!
All you had to-do
was put gas in it!
I got me an idea.
I got an idea.
Now we're just two bootleggers
waiting for the ATU!
This road is crawling
with cops, Cricket!
You know that we're
just sitting ducks?
- You gotta be kidding me!
- What, you got a better idea?
You're gonna put moonshine
in the gas tank?
Come on!
Oh, shit!
Yeah! Yeah!
You must be Cricket Pate, huh?
Jack, meet Gummy Walsh.
So what you got?
Well, sir, we got 100 gallons
of quality White Lightning,
and 100 finest Crazy Apple.
- Eel juice from Franklin County?
- Yes, sir.
All right.
It's all right.
What you got there,
a little pea-shooter?
OK, now walk.
- Walk.
- We had a deal.
You're one stupid sack of shit,
ain't you, boy?
Can't we work something out?
That how you hillbillies do business?
With a pop-gun?
I said fucking walk!
That's far enough.
All right, you're next.
You dug them boys
a hole like I told you?
Meet Floyd Banner.
Ain't no honor in the business anymore.
- Shoot 'em.
- Wait, wait.
Best stand back, fellas, unless
you wanna get your suits all splattered.
These country boys
can make a real mess.
Wait, wait, wait!
My name's Jack Bondurant.
I come from Blackwater Station.
That's impressive.
I'll give you four dollars,
but keep it to yourself.
Those boys out front,
they only get but three and a half.
I was told five.
Let's get it unloaded.
I respect you Bondurants
standing up to
that Commonwealth's District Attorney.
He's got everybody in his pocket.
He takes a shit and
half of Virginia falls out his ass.
There's something you ought to know.
I heard what happened
to your brother, Forrest.
Them cocksuckers that
did it used to work for me.
- They work for you?
- They left my outfit.
Got an offer from some
slick-looking deputy. He wore perfume.
Charlie Rakes?
Yeah, that was him.
What happened to Forrest...
...had nothing to do with me.
Make sure you tell Forrest that.
Tell him Floyd Banner says hello.
Give him this.
Say it's a gift
from the Midnight Coal Company.
Yeah. Now I remember
them Bondurant boys.
That boy's brother,
he's the one who walked
They say he goes around drinking
white mule through a hole in his throat.
I got every lawman in three
fucking states up my ass!
The last thing I need
is some hard-ass crackers
pulling a damn blood feud on me!
Now get this sack of shit out of here!
You're gonna hold on, Forrest.
You gotta hear me out.
I sold your whole lot
to Floyd Banner in one damn go.
Would have taken you a month
to off-load that.
Not only that, I sold it
for five dollars on the barrel.
That's twice what you get.
Right here?
That's two thousand dollars,
minus my commission.
Look at you.
You think you're
so goddamn smart.
You're swanning around
like you're Al Capone.
With your new best friend.
You take a good look, Jack.
That's your new best friend.
Yeah, you're wrong there, too.
Special Deputy Rakes was the one
hired the men to do that to you.
- Who told you that?
- Floyd Banner himself.
Oh, Floyd Banner himself.
Well, that must be gospel.
What's that?
It's a gift.
From Floyd Banner.
It's an address, Forrest.
For where you can find them
bastards who cut your throat.
I say we get 'em tonight.
Anything else I can
do for you, Forrest?
Sweep your fuckin' floors, maybe?
I got somewhere I gotta be.
Can I come in?
- Better be quick then.
- I'll be quick.
Got me one of them cameras.
- Stand right here.
- Here?
Lord, if my daddy caught me with one
of those things, he'd murder me.
You gotta keep steady now,
so as I can get it.
All right.
Why'd you stop fooling around?
That's how the movie stars
do it in California.
All right.
One, two, three.
- Now you.
- All right.
Ready?
How'd I look?
Like trouble, Jack Bondurant.
I got me a new car.
Forrest?
Hey.
Huh?
- It's nice, isn't it?
- Yeah.
Where's Forrest?
- What?
- Jack.
- Have they gone without me?
- You don't have to be like...
Shit. I found out where they was.
You know how they say
you ain't got no balls, Jack?
They was wrong.
You send these to Rakes.
You're looking real sharp there, kid.
The trumpet has been blown,
the battlement stormed,
and the walls have come tumbling down.
Who's there?
I kept hearing the country
was in a real bad way.
Folks outta work, people dusted out,
losing their homes and
their farms and all.
But from my perspective,
the situation was something
different entirely.
once we started shifting that
liquor across the county line,
that money just started
pouring in.
That don't mean the runs were easy.
Rakes was coming at us day and night.
Go on, boy, gimme a reason.
Y'all get the fuck out of Franklin.
Then Cricket,
he had one of his ideas.
He stuck a souped-up
carburetor in that Ford.
It was thing of pure beauty.
He's gifted, that boy.
Me, well, ain't no one could say
I couldn't drive a damn car.
- Forrest, dance with me!
- I ain't dancing to this.
Come on...
Meanwhile,
Howard and me hammered out
four 300 gallon submarine stills.
They were the biggest stills
Franklin had ever seen
and we hid them deep in the woods
where Rakes could never find them.
Come on, you gotta look tough, Cricket.
Get off my property, boy!
I catch you near my daughter again,
God Himself won't
be able to help you!
- You hear me?!
- One, two, three.
By that time,
Jimmy and them others caved in,
made deals with Wardell.
All except our cousin, Spoons.
But Rakes took him
out of the picture altogether.
We Bondurants,
we were the last ones standing.
You just gonna watch me forever?
Um...
Uh... What...
What you doin'?
Damned if you don't
keep a girl waiting.
Forrest?
Now hold on, Bertha, before you
start talking about your soul,
vanity and all that sort of stuff, I wanna
make sure you understand something.
This here vehicle,
you know what that is?
That's a Rumbleseat Roadster.
It's a Ford V8.
Not many in the world get a
chance to drive in such a thing.
It's only fair of me to warn you
before you open that door
and get inside, nothing's gonna
be the same as it was before.
Your whole life is
gonna change forever.
Now you can sit there on that gate
and you can shake your head,
talking about "Daddy this" and
"Daddy that" till you're blue in the face
or you can climb down off that gate,
you can live a little bit,
- you can get inside my car...
- Hey, Jack...
Hold on, Bertha, this is the best part.
- There's kudzu fields just up...
- Jack.
Yeah?
You still got the price tag
on your coat.
No, I don't.
- Come here.
- Where?
Jeepers, Jack.
It sure goes fast.
Fast?
Now we're going fast.
Don't you like it?
It don't matter if I like it,
I can't wear this.
I just wanted to
get you something nice.
Where do you think I'd be able
to wear something like that?
I'll take you somewhere so you can
wear something like that every day.
Why don't you try it on?
What? Here?
- Yeah, ain't nobody around.
- You're around.
I... I'll just... listen to my radio,
look out at this tree here.
I won't look, you can go back
behind the car and put it on.
All right, seeing as
you bought it and all.
You better not look.
- You better not be looking.
- I'm not looking.
Just over here at this
woodpecker on a tree.
Well?
How do I look?
Come on.
Oh, shit, Jack. Goddamn.
I got you, you dumb hick.
Watch your step, here.
Whatcha think?
- What do I think about what?
- My place of employment.
- Hey.
- Hot socks, Jack.
What's she doing here?
Miss Bertha Minnix,
meet my partner, the Cricket Pate.
Pleased to meet you, Cricket Pate.
The pleasure's all mine, miss.
Boy, oh, boy, Jack, your
brothers are gonna shit their grits.
Don't you worry about it.
This is it.
- It's a real hideout.
- Howard's up in the look-out.
It's the biggest distillation
set-up in these hills.
We're able to put
out 1,000 gallons a week.
No one around here comes
close to doing that.
You're an outlaw, Jack.
No, that's just a matter
of perspective.
I'm just doing what
any man around here would do
if he had the same
strength of character.
You got it all figured out?
Yeah.
Damned if your face don't
belong on a coin, Bertha.
- Jack.
- I mean it.
I ain't never seen nothing
as beautiful as you right here.
Not never.
I wish I had the damn words to tell you.
You're doing just fine.
You're a damn fool, Jack.
- Jack!
- What?
- It's the law!
- What?
The law! The ATU!
It's the law!
Come here, come here.
- What the hell was that?
- We gotta go!
All right, look.
You take her. Take her.
- Go to the Station, I'll meet you there.
- Jack...
Go. Go, go, goddamn it, go!
- Keep moving!
- Where the fuck is that coming from?
Mm...
Go, go, go!
- Do you think we scared them off?
- I don't know.
What the hell's that?
- Goddamn it, listen!
- Shit.
Huh?
Fuck!
- I'm gonna kill you, motherfucker.
- Hey, Rakes!
Remember me?
- You're not gonna shoot me.
- Oh, yeah?
Look at you. Boo- hoo.
OK, let's go. Close in!
Goddamn nance.
- Move in!
- Come on, Jack!
Go, go, go!
Get those sons of bitches! Fuck!
- Good job, boys.
- Thank you, sir.
They found Cricket Pate
and some gal.
- The cripple boy?
- Yep.
- Hiding out in the woods.
- You all right?
Come on, miss,
let's get you home, now.
Come on.
Don't worry, miss, he'll be fine.
Keep on going.
That friend of yours,
he called me a nance.
Why would he say that?
I don't know, sir.
Maybe 'cause you smell funny.
What's wrong with
your damn legs, anyway?
I got rickets when I was a kid.
Left me a little hinky.
That's it. Down a bit.
Here, just goin here.
What are we...
Why do you want me to goin there?
It's fine. Come on.
He makes a goddamn mess
on Charlie Rakes' shirt!
He called me a fucking nance!
Forrest, I never meant to...
Go on, you never meant what?
To walk around like you own the place?
Or like you're...
...you're public enemy number one now?
Forrest, I was just
trying to make sure...
Letting you in was a mistake.
- I'm sorry.
- Hm?
I said I'm sorry. I'm sorry
they damn blew up your stills.
I'm sorry they got the car.
- I'm sorry they took your money.
- My money?
Hold on. My money?
This ain't about the goddamn money.
This is about a goddamn principle.
Might be
he's had enough, Forrest.
Yeah, as for you,
you dumb son of a bitch...
I just heard...
They got Cricket.
- What do you mean?
- They killed him.
Cricket's dead, Jack.
That boy never hurt a... fly.
He was a good boy.
[The Bootleggers featuring
Ralph Stanley and Emmylou Harris:
"Fire in the Blood/ Snake Song"]
Them bastards!
Forrest.
Uh, we just want to say how...
How sorry we are about Cricket.
We all liked that boy.
And whatever was done to him goes
beyond the point of forgiveness.
Yeah, well there's a lot
that can't be forgiven.
All right, Forrest, I know
what we done wasn't right...
You sold us out, Jimmy.
It's time y'all picked a side.
Jack.
- What do you want?
- I need to talk to Forrest.
- No you don't.
- Ja...
You talk to me now.
Now, looky here, Jack.
I just want y'all to know
that neither me nor my officers
had anything to do with
what happened to Cricket.
- He was a good boy...
- Just your best buddy, Rakes.
He ain't my buddy.
What he done to that boy...
...there can be no absolution.
You come all the way out here
to tell me that?
I'm risking something being here, Jack.
Now... I come here to tell you
that what happened to Cricket
ain't the end of something, but the start
of something. You understand me?
Mason Wardell,
he's gotten Rakes to bring in
extra ATU officers from the city.
They're gonna shut down
the whole damn county.
They already got me and
my deputies close down the bridge.
No ones getting in
and no ones getting out.
- Where is Rakes?
- Never you mind.
- I asked you a question.
- I'm warning you, son.
You keep your voice down.
You better lay low.
At least till this blows over.
This is a war they is waging.
You ain't gonna survive.
You best get out of here now.
Go on.
Jack!
Forrest!
- Ah, shit.
- Hey, wake up!
Damn it, Jack.
What are you doing?
Well, Jack's gone off half-cocked.
That's it, then.
Forrest, Jack done took off
in Cricket's car!
Calm down, Howard.
Go fetch the car.
He got trouble
written all over him.
Come on, Danny, I said get up!
I gotta watch you die all over again.
What you talkin' about?
I gotta find you lying
in a pool of your own blood?
Drag your damn body into my car?
Drive you down to the hospital,
your throat cut from ear to ear?
You did that?
I'm not doing it again.
I thought I walked.
Isn't that just like you
to believe your own damn legend?
Come on, Forrest,
get a move on!
Wait a minute.
You came back here that night?
They see you?
Forrest, come on!
- Then what happened?
- Nothing.
I asked you a question.
I told you.
Look at me.
Maggie, look at me.
- What happened when you got back?
- Not a damn thing.
Now you know.
Not a goddamn one of them bastards
ever did a damn thing to me.
Forrest, come on!
Son of a bitch.
- Wasn't that Jack Bondurant?
- Shit!
It's that Bondurant boy!
Where's that murdering piece of shit?!
He's got a gun.
Rakes! You motherfucker,
where are you?!
- Where are you?!
- Just hold it right there, Jack.
- Rakes, you bastard!
- You looking for me, son?
Stop!
Rakes!
Deputy! Stand down, deputy!
- You are one stupid boy!
- Put down your weapon.
Forrest.
Hey!
Kill those sons of bitches!
Hold your fire!
Huh? How's that feel?
Come on, Danny.
Cease fire!
Cease fire, deputies!
Take that, you shit-kicking rubes!
Jack!
- Get him out of there!
- Howard!
I'll teach you to mess with
Special Deputy Charlie Rakes.
Sheriff?
You are nothing now!
That goes for all you hicks!
Stand down, everybody!
Stand down!
Cease fire!
Hold your fire. Jimmy, please.
Let's stop this right here.
No one else needs to get hurt.
Time to die, you chicken-shit
sons of bitches!
Stand down, deputy!
It's time for me
to take out the garbage!
- Goddamn it, Rakes, stand down!
- Immortal?
- Immortal?! What a fucking laugh!
- Deputy!
Fuck!
Someone help Forrest!
Now get the fuck out of Franklin.
You gonna let him walk away?
Get out of my way! All of you!
- Now, everybody...
- Fuck!
- Just stay calm.
- Come on, just take it easy.
I work for the Commonwealth's attorney!
Stay where you are, Jimmy.
You're candy-assed motherfuckers!
Every single one of you!
You bastard!
- Forrest! Forrest!
- Goddamn it, stop shooting!
- Holster your weapons!
- No!
Get some help!
Somebody get some help!
What was he thinking?
You fucking bastards
are gonna pay for this!
Rakes!
Jack!
Now just hold it right there, Jack!
Gimme the gun.
Now, everybody just stay calm.
Let it be, Jimmy.
Jack.
Jack!
Fuck.
Christ.
Son of a bitch.
All right then.
In December 1933,
Prohibition finished.
So ended the great Franklin County
Moonshine Conspiracy,
as it became known.
That same year,
Commonwealth Attorney Mason Wardell
was arrested on charges of corruption.
A couple years later,
Howard moved to Martinville,
found work in the textile mills there.
Surprised us all by getting hitched,
having a whole bunch of children.
Bertha Minnix,
the preacher's daughter, well,
that gal always had
a rebellious streak in her.
We got married the following year.
I ran my daddy's farm.
Raised cattle,
grew tobacco.
All right, then, here we go.
After he got shot at the bridge,
Forrest spent two weeks
recuperating in the hospital.
Then he walked out of there
and married Maggie.
- You gonna toast, Howard?
- Yeah.
Neither of them told no one.
I only found out years later.
- Cheers.
- Cheers.
He was like that, Forrest.
Don't you boys be making a commotion
when you come upstairs, all right?
- Yes, ma'am.
- I'm going to bed.
Come on, you, up to bed.
Night.
Good night, boys.
Hey, come on, Forrest.
Come on.
Why don't you show us a dance?
Come on, Uncle Forrest, get up.
Come on!
- Come on.
- I ain't dancing for you two jackasses.
Come on, huh?
I'm gonna go get me some air.
- Do one move.
- No.
- Here we go, here we go! Oh, oh...
- Come on...
There ain't enough space.
Let him walk it off.
Yep, I'm gonna...
I'm going to bed, too.
It's too damn cold to be sitting
out here on this porch.
Midnight's upon us already.
Night, Forrest.
- Night, Jack.
- Good night.
Forrest once said
nothing could kill us,
that we could never die.
And back then I think
I actually believed it.
Hell, I know Forrest did.
'Cause no matter what
this world flung at him
he seemed to be able to just
stand up and keep on going.
Getting a little more bent,
a little more twisted each time.
But nobody leaves
this world alive.
Not even Forrest.
And in the end,
it was dumb luck
and pneumonia that got him.
It was as simple
and indifferent as that.
Nowadays, we Bondurants
abide by the law.
People ain't trying to cut our throats,
stab us, shoot us no more.
Them days are long gone.
Sometimes when I'm out on the porch,
just sitting around doing nothing,
hell...
...it sure does get
real quiet around here.