DVD The Hard Word

There is one large problem with this film. I don't know if it was the Australian slang or the sound quality, but I just couldn't understand it. I actually had to put on the English subtitles, which were created for the hard-of-hearing and included things like "sound of car door opening" or they gave the name of the person speaking as well as the dialog.

Also, the story just got sillier and sillier and I found myself bored and falling asleep. I actually saw only about half of it, but couldn't bear to rewind and continue watching. I therefore can't recommend this film at all.

There's very little that's original or new in this film, with all the generic cliches falling dutifully into place: the release from prison, the inevitable double crosses, the unfaithful wife, the trigger-happy outsider who almost bungles the entire operation with his impetuosity and brashness, and the innocent bystander who, sensing the excitement of life on the dark side, helps the robbers with their getaway. Surprisingly little time is spent on the planning and execution of the heist, and an inordinate amount on getting the men out of prison (they get out once and then, inexplicably for plot purposes, get sent back in again).

The performers are good, but their thick Australian accents make much of the dialogue virtually incomprehensible (for non-Aussies that is). That doesn't do much to enhance the clarity of the film. The real problem with "The Hard Word," though, is that we've seen it all countless times before, only better.

This is not a remake of Ocean's 11!

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