O Grande Roubo

Tough and profane, THE HARD WORD is a nasty little gem filmed in Australia during the criminal caper comedy run of production themes from 1999-2003. Like DIRTY DEEDS the same year, it was harshly judged and slid at the box office, but on a big screen it was quite enjoyable in its deliberately mean way. With an excellent cast including Guy Pearce and Rachel Griffiths, it also features a hugely silly putty nose stuck on Pearce's face. God knows why. Also in the cast are two of Australia's best character actors... the gorgeous Rhondda Findleton (see her also in LOVE IN LIMBO) and the adorable hilarious Torquil Neilson (from the equally maligned farce LET'S GET SKASE). Both these support actors would be big stars if on TV overseas but they just never get big release parts here in Australia... bit like the superb he man Jack Campbell from THE NOSTRDAMUS KID and charming Nicolas Beaumont. THE GUARDIAN star from TV Simon Baker ( of L.A. Confidential)seems to have taken all the roles for these guys in one career. THE HARD WORD is a wannabee heist caper with some nasty behavior. Sam Genocchio's 2004 micro budget crime calamity GET RICH QUICK also attempted the same Aussie genre with genuinely disgusting and hilarious results. Wait until you see how Rachel Griffiths greets Guy Pearce peering at her from behind the glass prison visiting room window in THE HARD WORD.... I hope she wasn't sitting next to her Mum at the premiere for that scene to unfold. Rachel! what a thing to agree to be photographed doing with that smile on your face! John Waters would have been thrilled.

"The Hard Word" is a gritty, sexy, Australian take on the double-crossing heist movie.

We get to hear Guy Pearce (long-haired and greasy) and Rachel Griffiths (blonde and wet) go native in their accents in an entertainingly original script by first-time director Scott Roberts.

While not the first film to have quirky brothers-in-crime as the comfortable loyalty fulcrum, the familial psychological pathologies make for a nice counterpoint to the friends', foes', and femme fatale's twists and turns. There's more jokes and ironic humor than even the violence, which helps to block out some quizzical plot turns.

The movie never tells us that the title is Ozzie slang, among other blunt phrases used throughout (such as the tendency of Ozzie blokes to affectionately call each other the "c" word). My Down Under friend Bronwyn translates (used with her permission): "In it's 'ultimate' usage it means to pressure someone for sex. If you were talking to a girlfriend who went out on a date with someone new, you might ask 'did he put the hard word on?' However, it is sometimes also used just in a general sense of exerting pressure. In fact, it was in a headline in our local suburban paper ("The Leader") yesterday: 'Minister puts the hard word on district pollies [politicians].' An article about the State Minister for Local Government pushing the local councils to sort out boundary reforms."

I loved The Hard Word and was wrapped in the totality of the experience that showed none of the shortcomings as related by others who commented on this film.

I thought that the scripting and direction of Scott Roberts was very good: the inevitability of the consequences that unraveled as the script progressed had a Shakespearian inevitability about it As a viewer I sat watching this all too real story unfold knowing nothing good was going to happen for any player in this strange dance of death but being powerless to change any of the pieces that formed the inescapable conclusion to all that would befall the players.

The script worked itself out without being forced through the Hollywood funnel which can do little but transform reality into something palatable

for the mid-American diet: movies as a metaphor for fast food.

This film demonstrates a larrikin-ness that differentiates Australian films within a genre from their American equivalents. There are some scenes that are Tarantino-like, but I don't think that there is meant to be any real comparison. There is a lightness here and what appears to be a refusal to take itself seriously as a genre piece.

The main performances are stand-out, especially Guy Pearce and Rachel Griffiths. However, some of the minor characters appear to be there only to support plot movement. The best of these is Kate Atkinson as a ditzy blonde, but the rest are cardboard-cutout caricatures.

From an Australian perspective, it was nice to see Paul Sonkilla reprising his police hardman roles from some of my favourite TV series, although he appears to be slightly typecast.

I found the cinematography and the sound production quite well done and overall I really enjoyed this regardless of the small flaws, which end up looking more like positive traits - keeping the feel of the movie real and not produced to death, which is a problem I find with so many Hollywood films.

This was a really enjoyable film. While it may not have had the most original script, it certainly shines when compared to other, much more lackluster, heist films. I enjoyed this from start to finish and did not find it as formulaic and predictable as many other films in the genre. It's sort of like an Australian version of the film "Confidence," only with better acting and more interesting characters. Guy Pearce throws himself into the role and does not waver.

Even when the focus is on another actor his presence commands the attention of the audience. Few actors are as skilled in stealing a scene without ever saying a word. The female characters are rather one dimensional, but it's a detail that's easily overlooked as they are not the central focus. Definitely worth a visit to the video store.