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The Hard WordRating:
Release Date: 07 October, 2003 Retail Price: $14.98 OUR Price: $12.99 You SAVE: $1.99! Cast: Complete Cast (9 total) |
The Hard Word Reviews
Entertaining Australian genre film
The three Twentyman brothers are hardened criminals who've spent the last two years in remand for armed robbery. The eldest, Dale (Guy Pearce), is the brains. Mal (Damien Richardson) is a soft and simple butcher. Shane (Joel Edgerton) is a damaged boy with a short fuse. With the help of their lawyer Frank Malone (Robert Taylor), some corrupt police and the prison governor who all get a cut, the brothers are regularly released from prison for the day to conduct a robbery, and then returned: they're never suspected because officially they were still in custody. When their sentences come to an end Frank, who Dale suspects is having an affair with his wife, Carol (Rachel Griffiths), proposes "one last job" - the robbery of bookies after the running of that iconic Australian sporting event, the Melbourne Cup... "The Hard Word" is one of several features of the last few years that challenges the longstanding tacit requirement that Australian movies must be quirky, unique and agonizingly "Aussie" while the rest of the world's filmmakers are apparently entitled to make whatever kind of pictures they choose. It's an admirable effort, because while it imports the "one last job" scenario direct from Hollywood, it imbues it with classically Australian humour, played particularly well by the laconic brothers, especially Guy Pearce. The plotting and pacing are excellent, and the mix of crime, comedy, violence and even a few romantic subplots make for a genuinely enjoyable and impressive first feature from writer-director Scott Roberts. The versatile Guy Pearce gives a revelatory performance, while Rachel Griffiths extends her comic range as Carol the gangsters' moll. Damien Richardson and Joel Edgerton are wonderfully weird as the brothers, and Robert Taylor is perfectly vile as their smarmy lawyer. A great night in.
All It Takes Is A Little Persuasion!
Guy Pearce leads a gang of three bank-robber brothers. They're very good at what they do, and they take great pride in the fact that no one has ever been hurt during one of their jobs. Released from prison, they stage another heist in partnership with their lawyer and some crooked cops. What they don't know is that their lawyer is sleeping with Pearce's wife (the incendiary Rachel Griffiths), and he has them sent back to prison, only to spring them once again for an even bigger job. By this point, Pearce and company are as suspicious as they are resentful. The Hard Word is consistently entertaining, but uneven. Its plot becomes increasingly loose in the last act, frittering away much good will as it does so. The cast is in fine form though, and keeps interest high.
Writer/director Scott Roberts provides the commentary. Though informative, his talk does rely too heavily on pointing out the obvious. The superb music score is granted an isolated track, and Thrussell's opening credits music has its own cool video as well. The behind-the-scenes feature is your usual promotional thing. The cast and crew bios are more detailed than most, and include complete filmographies. The reverse Butcher Talk is explained in a "Meatierology" essay (though I still can't figure out the final example -- maybe I'm just thick). The climactic chase scene is shown in tandem with its storyboards, and there's the theatrical trailer. Not a bad bunch of extras. The menu's main page, intro and transitions are scored and animated, while the Special Features page is scored.
The movie is a bit frustrating, in that it showed many signs of being better than it finally turned out to be. The complete package isn't bad at all however, especially given that this wasn't a major release in North America.
More Customer Reviews (9 total)
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