dannyll

For a movie so heavily laden with violence and bloodshed "Two Hands" is surprisingly feelgood. Heath Ledger as the ingenuous Jimmy is out to impress and the lovely Alex [Rose Byrne] thinks he a bit of alright too. Others also see potential in Jimmy with possibly not always his best interests at heart. Bryan Brown is suitably detached as the Mr Big who is not a complete stranger to a bit of compassion, but can't afford too much of it. This is a side of Sydney not too many of us see [unless your name is Sally-Ann or Chopper]. The vernacular is certainly credible for this mosaic of street kids, touts, thugs, buskers, pimps, gimps, shrimps and wimps who put the flesh on the bones of "Two Hands". Great script, great movie - see it!

I think Homegrown is a bit of a misnomer for this movie - more like "Plantation Grown" - but it doesn't have quite the same ring to it. My guide described it a comedy, but the pathetic travails of these hapless buffoons is not my idea of a belly laugh. More in the genre of the farcical thriller/drama. The characters developed well enough - an all-star cast made it oh-so promising, just a shame the plot was patently absurd. Ted Danson provided a fine cameo as did Jamie Lee Curtis in her walk-on part. Jon Bon Jovi has this amazing ability to measure THC content in the front seat of his car! I guess if you imbibe a few beforehand you should be able to sit through this one - not for the gun shy paranoid types though.

I thought this movie rarely rose above the very ordinary. Sure it had some redeeming features. The FOX guide described it as a "Comedy" - sorry, but, I must have missed the funny part. You might think that someone who has just got out of jail might wander aimlessly for a while. Not our Billy. He knows exactly what he needs to find. A toilet! Or a bathroom as Americans like to say. So he searches early and he searches often. Eventually he gets lucky and finds a room with a toilet and a bath. So he has a bath -- in his underpants! Really, Billy, I've heard of a shower in a raincoat, but not a bath in your underpants, please. Billy struts the stage looking like some latter day Charles Manson and every bit the loser. I am no expert on American football, but I think the Buffalo Bills have a similar pedigree. Was it three Super Bowls in a row lost? At half time the film had a lot of potential, but like the hapless Bills themselves, the end game, the big play, just was not there. Billy should try looking on the bright side. If his mother had been an Anaheim fan he might have been called "Ducky". I was waiting for something to happen, which never did, then when it finally did, it didn't. If you know what I mean. An all-star cast does not quite lift this one out of the primeval slime. Although the music, especially "Heart of the Sunrise" in the strip club scene, if not the gratuitous crooning of the director's father, helps.