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Two Hands (1999)
10/10
the evolution of australian film
13 August 2001
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5 Years ago if you were to watch an Australian film you would expect to see crocodile hunters, stories of war, drag queens, kangaroos and koalas, and Australians in general being represented as nitwits living off the land, saying words like ‘cobber' and generally being the classic underdog.

Luckily Australian film has evolved over the last couple years and is churning out modern day ‘classics' such as Blackrock, Moulin Rouge, Chopper, Yolngu Boy and Sample People.

In this evolution of film we also find Two Hands.

Set in Sydney's Kings Cross, Two Hands is a black comedy about crime and survival in the rough end of town. Pando, played by Bryan Brown, is a Sydney Mob boss. He's the king of organised crime wearing thongs, carrying a stubby and helping his son with his origami. He's vicious, but real. As are his ‘mob', holding gun's to someone's head in one scene and then playing boardgames in the next. They are well respected and if they ask you for a favour, you don't say no.

Enter Jimmy, played by Heath Ledger. Jimmy is your average Aussie guy in his early twenties. He's a good guy who wants to make a name for himself without getting on anyone's bad side, so when Pando asks Jimmy to deliver $10,000, Jimmy accepts.

Things start to get exciting when 2 teenagers manage to steal the money while Jimmy is at the beach. So now Jimmy is $10,000 in dept to a major mob boss. From here we start to see all the interconnecting stories with Jimmy and his attempt at a bank robbery to recover the money, Jimmy and Alex (the love interest, played by Rose Byrne), Pando trying to find Jimmy and, of course, the two teenagers and their new found prosperity. The concept is deepened by the narrator, Jimmy's dead brother, Michael, who was killed by Pando and his gang years earlier.

In the end all the storylines connected really well with a surprise twist to shock and stun the audience. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Two Hands (1999)
10/10
i though it was a great film although the australianisms were a tad problematic.
13 August 2001
i really enjoyed this movie and felt proud that it was australian. unfortunately the films australianisms were a tad problematic,(sure thongs are popular, but they're not that popular, especially in Sydney where everyone dresses like they are coming out of Vogue magazine.) And what was the deal with Jimmy deciding to take a 'quick dip' in the hope of seeing Alex(Rose Byrne). This just proves that young males dont do their thinking with their heads. i ended up screaming at my TV "dont go for a swim, ya moron." But i guess he didnt hear me. apart from this i found it to be quite entertaining, and all the crossing pulp-fiction-style storylines were well conceived and connected beautifully. FYI- Austalians lives dont really revolve around crime, we are a peace loving nation. Honest.
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