19-year-old Jimmy (Heath Ledger) is a bouncer in Kings Cross, Sydney, doing odd jobs on the side for local mob boss Pando (Bryan Brown), while the spirit of his late older brother narrates and looks on. After meeting new girl in town Alex (Rose Byrne), Jimmy's instantly smitten. But when he loses ten grand of Pando's dirty money at the beach en route to delivering it, he's really wanted. Now Jimmy will have to use more than his fists to escape from this fix - even if most of Pando's mob are true liabilities.
Writer-director Gregor Jordan was just 33 when he released this energetic and viciously funny Aussie spin on the crime caper in 1999. Two scenes are particularly hilarious: one involving a gun mishap, the other a robbery that goes so wrong it puts those in Pulp Fiction and even Dog Day Afternoon to shame. But underneath this, it also features distinctive but nuanced and relatable characters who are all memorably portrayed. Ledger (RIP) and Byrne infuse their breakthrough roles with charisma and vulnerability, but easily making mincemeat of them both is the explosive Bryan Brown. Pando is the role he was born to play, and he deservedly won an Australian Film Institute (as it was then known) Best Supporting Actor gong for his work (the movie won Best Film).
Two Hands also makes a profound and sobering statement on how criminals are made, with its subplot about two hoodlum street kids. It's an accurate crime flick with a proudly Australian flavour that also manages to be a flawless satire.
Two Hands also makes a profound and sobering statement on how criminals are made, with its subplot about two hoodlum street kids. It's an accurate crime flick with a proudly Australian flavour that also manages to be a flawless satire.
No comments:
Post a Comment