Product Details

• Actors: Bryan Brown, Toni Collette, John Goodman, Sam Neill, Sam Worthington
• Directors: David Caesar
• Writers: David Caesar
• Producers: Bryan Brown, Deborah Balderstone, Helen Watts, Hugh Marks, Jennie Hughes
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: November 4, 2003
• Run Time: 110 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000D0YT7
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #442,092 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Down Under Down and Dirty, January 7, 2004

By 

LGwriter "SharpWitGuy" (Astoria, N.Y. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dirty Deeds (DVD)

Here's the mix: throw in a coupla Yank Mafia guys--Sal and Tony. Blend with an Aussie mob operation based in Sydney, circa early 70s. What's the op? Slot machines. This is what's driving Sal and Tony's boss after the money to be made. Made men means make money. How Jimmy, the Mafia boss, found out about all the cash in Sydney is beyond the scope of this flick.

But that's OK. This works great. John Goodman is Tony, a kinda soft hearted Mafia soldier who's the perfect counterpart to Sal, his violent partner--shorter on brains and faster on the trigger finger (except when boar hunting). Bryan Brown is Barry, the main Aussie gangster who runs things in Sydney. Barry is married with a young son, but this doesn't stop him from cussing right to his kid's face or getting nasty when he has to.

Barry's not big on any takeover from the Yanks. Who would be, with a nice steady income stream every week? Not even for a coupla mil. This leads to some punchy (literally) things taking place, not least of which is Barry's nephew taking up with Barry's mistress, a young know-it-all waitress. Barry's wife, played by Toni Colette in a great performance, takes none too kindly to the extracurricular shenanigans.

And Barry's local rivals, one of whom was killed by Barry's men, are not exactly thrilled with Barry either. All this adds up to an edgy neo-noir with a unique Australian flavor. Very nifty. Writer-director David Caesar uses a hip, slice and dice jump-cutty style that is a teensy bit garish, but mostly works really well for the material. Skewed camera angles fit in with the period piece trappings--including spot on rock music and loud-color dress.

A different kind of neo-noir, entertaining and fun. Recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Crime Film From Down Under, November 2, 2003

By 

JayCoolbreeze2 (Lawton, OK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dirty Deeds (DVD)

John Goodman and Sam Neil make up a stellar cast in this nostalgic crime film. Set in Australia in the year 1969 it is the story of a crime ring operating slot machines out of night clubs. When Jimmy, a rival mafia man from the states, sends his gangsters Sal and (John Goodman) to Australia to get a piece of the pie trouble ensues. Barry is the local head of the slot ring and controls his town and the police (Sam Neil). Freddy is the local rival crime boss looking to make a deal with the Americans. Brent is Barry's nephew who's just come back from Vietnam looking to make big money. No one knows for sure where the others loyalty lies in this caper. Fairly well done independent film I would recomend viewing. David Caesar wrote and directed this movie and I had not seen a gangster movie from Australia before so it was an enjoyable watch. The sledge hammer scene and the outback pig hunt are my favorite moments in this picture. John Goodman was excellent and every member of the cast gave good performances.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice surprise, November 8, 2003

By 

MDT (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dirty Deeds (DVD)

Didn't expect much and I was pleasantly surprised. Nice picture quailty, comical characters, good soundtrack. Had a nice funky attitude that was refreshing in a stale atmosphere of gangster movies.