Two Hands

Jordan takes us into the seedy crime side of Sydney, Australia, following the desperate attempt of nineteen year old Jimmy, (Heath Ledger), who bundles a job for a local gangster and needs to make amend before they get to him. The gangsters, (led by Bryan Brown), are a menacing bunch with a humorous streak in them. That's what makes the film work, because we always view gangsters as a rough bunch out to screw you badly. But this mob tickle your funny bone as well. A clever structured script by Jordan has characters crossing paths and getting caught in the web plot.

The inspiration for this film was the fact that American Gangsters are well dresses, but the Aussies, well when you might kill a guy as soon as look at the blighter, then you can dress as badly as you want and people won't criticize you.

Jimmy is fighter, an illegal boxer, sometimes bouncer and is offered work by Pando, the local gangster boss in the cross (That is, Australia's notorious Kings Cross District, not the Cross of London fame as many a British backpacker finds out the hard way).

Due to feelings of love he stuffs up a job, loses a lot of money and has to get it to Pando before Pando and his heavies can kill him.

Lots of dark humour, interesting action, revelations about the Australia's underside and human nature. It is very centred in the Australian nature and explores the nature of Australian criminals (versus the American and British ones).

One problem is that each of the elements of the story don't have enough substance and depth, but it is a painting with broad strokes that covers a lot of area not covered previously, so as an overall package it is worthwhile.

Team it up with "Chopper" and "Dirty Deeds" for your Aussie Crime fest or "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Miller's Crossing" for an International falling short of the criminal gangs fest.

By the way, Bryan Brown is a great actor who has just done a huge number of really bad movies. Here is one of his great movies.

Wannabe Jimmy gets given a simple delivery job to do for local mobster Pando. When he inevitable messes it up and loses $10K he goes on the run and loins a bank job to try and get the money back. Under the watchful eye of his brother, who has dug himself up from hell to see if Jimmy can learn from his mistake, Jimmy stumbles through a series of misadventures to get to safety.

This is very enjoyable - one of the many modern black comedies that use small time criminals as the starting points of violently funny stories. Here the film follows the hapless Jimmy as he gets himself into and out of hot water of the criminal type. The story is daft - lets be honest! It starts well but gets pretty stretched after we see the scene from the start of the film again, and the tidy conclusion is just very unlikely. However it's all done with such style and wit that you don't really mind. The characters link together tidily and the story is very enjoyable.

The director kicks Australian cinema in the ass by delivering a very stylish package, from the intense scenes of sudden violence, the really visually clever credit sequence right down to the great soundtrack and camera work, this is a stylish feast. The only problem with this is that it highlights the weaknesses of the story.

Heath Ledger is really good and deservedly is a rising star in Hollywood. Bryan Brown is really great and his mob is very funny - barely competent at best, but dealing out violence without a second though. However the real star is the director. Vidler as Jimmy's brother is OK, but his philosophising gets a little tired after a while (but his failed redemption makes sense). Overall it has plenty of weaknesses, but it also has much to enjoy - very stylish, very funny in a dark way and very enjoyable for those that like the current band of `Lock, Stock…..' films.

I remember catching this film on a C4 screening a year ago and I was completely blown away by the whole thing. I thought the film managed to represent such a diversity of genres; the supernatural, a love story, the intrigue of crime, and so many more.

I was hooked on the whole thing after a minute or so and was really concerned about the characters. It made me feel terrified at one second for Jimmy, and then had me laughing away at the gangsters in the next... and all the time I had my fingers crossed that things would work out for Jimbo!

Heath Ledger and Rose Bryne are superb, Bryan Brown is absolute quality and had me creasing up, along with David Field, who was funny as well as being an evil git.

Since I saw this film I managed to order it on DVD and as a result, every person I show it to has been hooked in much the same way.

This film is perfect for a Sunday afternoon or a lazy evening, and it's one that you can really appreciate with your mates around.

A refreshing black comedy starring some of Australia's finest. In the same way that Lock Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels captured the funny side of London gangsters, Two Hands rips through the Sydney underworld. It wouldn't be so funny if it wasn't so close to the bone.

An Australian classic. If Australia could pull more rabbits like this out its hat it might actually have a film industry worth keeping an eye on.