19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is not a remake of Ocean's 11!, March 4, 2004
after reading some of these reviews its obvious that some of you are missing the point entirely. This is not a preposterous diamond heist film such as 'entrapment', nor is it one of these garbage hollywood films made to a formula involving an inordinate number of double, triple and quadruple crossings. the only american film which i would really compare it to at all is the similarly gritty and blackly comic classic 'reservoir dogs'.
first of all, the three main characters are not brothers, although it seems a blurb somewhere must have said this. the reason they speak the butcher's tongue is due to their time in the slammer.
secondly, i feel the way that the guys KNOW theyre going to get screwed over by their lawyer ADDS to the suspense. the fun is in seeing how he tries to do it, not "is the good guy a bad guy or a good guy pretending to be a bad guy so he can double cross the bad guy who is actually playing for both sides whilst sleeping with the good guys wife etc. etc."
also, i felt the robberies were very realistic. whats more likely to come off, robbing a bunch of intoxicated bookies after all the security guards have gone home (on a side note the melbourne cup is a hugely significant sporting event on the australian calendar, a nuance perhaps missed by our american friends), or breaking into a bank, disabling the security system with non-existent electrical equipment and lugging 50 tonnes of gold bars away from a 12-inch thick lead vault?
enough of that, the idea behind the film was to illustrate the human qualities of these flawed characters - after all, are these theives really any worse than shady politicians or mass tort lawyers? ive gotta agree that rachel griffiths looks a bit she-malish, but if theyd got liz hurley theyd also have got her acting ability! the role called for a tart not a glamour model.
all in all, i thought it was a very original and emotionally involving film, certainly one of the best crime thrillers of the past few years, with especially fantastic performances by joel edgerton and guy pearce
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
When it comes to crime capers.. Australians do it better!, April 17, 2006
I've seen this film compared to "Ocean's Eleven" and I think the comparison is an insult to "The Hard Word".
While less stylized, and more conventional than "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels," Guy Ritchie fans will probably enjoy this movie.
There's plenty of Australian style dark humor (reminiscent of "Two Hands" and "Chopper") strewn throughout the film with solid performances from Guy Pearce and Rachel Griffiths. Overall, it's a lot less predicable than most of the "Heist" films of recent memory.
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Australian Films are great, May 4, 2003
The Hard Word is an Aussie film starring Guy Pearce (Time Tunnel)and Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under). A clever storyline focussing on three criminals who are promised freedom if they do one more job for the big guys - showing that corruption exists at the top, and that a promise is not always a promise. The film borders on comedy, but overall is a great suspense drama. If you enjoy this, you will also enjoy "Two Hands" starring Heath Ledger and Bryan Brown - another fantastic Aussie film.
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