Dirty Deeds

Truly, when will we Australians ever stop wanting to sell this "ocker" cliche thing to the world? I think the world 'gets it already' right? It's like the writer got himself a copy of an "Aussie slang cliche" guide and applied EVERY slang cliche in the book in almost alphabetical order! I mean what's that all about? Even words that haven't been used since the 40's. I am 46 years old and I have lived the sixties and seventies in Australia. People JUST DIDN'T TALK LIKE THAT! Sure we would use the occasional slang phrase or two, but nothing like the amount coming out of Bryan Brown's mouth.

Then the acting...Bryan Brown's character truly couldn't scare a chicken. He was trying to play the 'tough guy' instead he looked and acted more like an fast-talking and obnoxious ol'drunk! His scene in the gym was sad. He couldn't punch his way through a wet paper bag. His expression was'nt tough and menacing, rather one of frustration nad bitterness..

The opening 'Vietnam scene was hilarious! Vietnam? more like Dubbo! Its squeeky clean cinematography made it look like a cheap ad for Pizza Hut. In fact most of the movie was shot like a television commercial with all it's cliche characteristics. The car chase was so badly shot. I'm sorry but cars racing at 15-20 kmph don't exactly put me at the edge of my seat. I've seen better car action on bumper car rinks.

Sam Neil at his worst can't be good for his career. Tough corrupt cop? Right.

John Goodman and offsider just as bad. Cardboard characters with zero dimension.

Newcomer Sam Worthington needs a few years in acting school he DOES have an excuse.

Toni Colette was ridiculous as Brown's wife. I must admit that did surprise me as I have always been impressed with her.

The opening scene featuring Brown and crew with sledgehammers should have been alot more intense. They looked like a bunch of feeble old women as they smashed their way around the club. Half of them couldn't pick up the damn hammers. No impact whatsoever.

Overall besides being one of the silliest movies in Aussie Film history, this film lacked substance, story, dimension and direction.

A most embarrasing and weak attempt at an Autralian 'Gangster movie'.

"Dirty Deeds" takes a nostalgic view of the Sydney of the late nineties as we are taken along to meet a local gangster who is ruthless against his enemies, or the people trying to invade his territory. The action takes place in King Cross, an area where night life was the main attraction.

David Caesar and his cinematographer, Geoffrey Hall, created a film that seems to have been shot in that era, as they have given the movie a faded look that works well with the story they are telling. The film has some funny moments that come at unexpected moments. The inside joke seems to be about how to really make a good pizza, something that might not have been done at the time.

The film makers have to be congratulated in bringing a brilliant cast together for the movie. Bryan Brown plays the kingpin Barry Ryan with equal amount of meanness and humor. Mr. Brown is an actor that is always consistent in anything he does and he should be seen more often. Toni Collette is one of the best actresses working in films, who is at home in drama as well as comedy, and she has a rare opportunity to show her talent playing Barry's wife, Sharon. John Goodman is good as the American mafioso who is outsmarted by his Aussie counterpart. Sam Worthington is fine as the naive Darcy and Kesty Moressi also does a good job as Margaret. The only one that has nothing to do is Sam Neill.

"Dirty Deeds" works well as a drama and a comedy because there are elements of both in it thanks to the way David Caesar presents his material on the screen.

In an age when the Australian movie scene is dominated by "larrikin" family comedies, gritty urban dramas shot on cheap film stock and whatever epic movie Peter Jackson gestates in the grit under his fingernails, David Caesar has crafted a small celluloid gem. A movie about the enduring Australian goal of killing everything in our path until one day the entire world will hit itself on the thumb and say "Bugger!" instead of "Sh*t!", "Dirty Deeds" is a camp classic, a knowing pastiche of the Australia of the early 1970s with more lashings of violence than most people care to remember. The film's depiction of Australian organized crime is in itself fantastic, the gangsters drink lager, run poker machines and swear a great deal. To see them in action is to wonder if Vincent Vega and Jules Winfield would've stood a chance against these corduroy thugs. Why, it's exactly like the real thing! Dirty Deeds - A Movie For Anyone Who Remembers Australian Criminal Activity. Go see it, you'll never want to visit the Land of the Great Wide Melanoma again.

In 1969 Vietnam, handsome soldier Sam Worthington (as Darcy "Darce" Ryan) receives his release from war service. He goes home to live with the uncle who raised him as a son. Meanwhile, weighty gangster John Goodman (as Tony Testano) and his trigger-happy henchman Fred Williamson (as Sal Cassela) are dispatched from Chicago, USA to Sidney, Australia. Their mission is to take over the slot-machine racket run by crime boss Bryan Brown (as Barry Ryan) by infiltrating his organization. Experienced at killing people and blowing things up, Mr. Worthington's becomes Mr. Brown's young partner...

Worthington could follow in his uncle's footsteps, or open his own pizzeria. A romantic subplot involves amorous Kestie Morassi (as Margaret), who so predictably switches partners you have to wonder what writer/director David Caesar intended. There is no real evidence, but perhaps Brown was trying to save his marriage to older, but still beautiful Toni Collette (as Sharon)...

Not an Australian expert, but there isn't much here that looks like contemporary movies from 1969. Adept cinematographer Geoffrey Hall is employed to make up the difference by making the motion picture look like an aged Polaroid. It only makes you look for the "color restore" button. The original soundtrack is done well, but don't expect AC/DC's original "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" or a 1969 parade of hits. Direction and editing (by Mark Perry) do help keep it moving. Most elevated in the cast credits is Sam Neill (as Ray Murphy). There is something extra to see within the end credit roll.

***** Dirty Deeds (7/18/02) David Caesar ~ Bryan Brown, Sam Worthington, John Goodman, Toni Collette

Ah, yeah!

This is a nicely paced caper and its only real crime is the weak ending.

It's been criminally undersold here, and sad to report I was alone in the dark corner of the multiplex I saw it in. As all the comments here are Australian and a year old, the film has obviously been leaked late to the rest of the world in advance of its video or dvd release. This is lacklustre treatment of a little gem.

First and most important, you don't need to be Australian to understand the dialog. I wouldn't fault any of the performances, which pretty much match the characters' function in the film. Bryan Brown and Sam Neill stand out, inevitably, but John Goodman and Toni Colette are sound in support.

I smiled from the moment this started to the closing credits, laughed out loud more than once, and salute the repeated use of "bouf-head" as a term of endearment.