Short but impressive career of Heath Ledger was built on some of the most prominent Hollywood films in the first decade of the 21st Century. Ledger, however, also made a few films in his native Australia. Among those, the best known, and arguably important as the springboard for his future Hollywood stardom, is Two Hands, a 1999 action comedy written and directed by Gregor Jordan.
Ledger stars as the protagonist Jimmy, a 19-year-old man from Sydney who tries to make ends meet by various odd jobs, including working as a bouncer in a strip club. Life, however, recently began to look a little brighter. He began a romantic relationship with the beautiful art student Alex (played by Rose Byrne), and Pando (played by Bryan Brown), a powerful crime lord that rules over the Sydney neighbourhood of Kings Cross, has recruited him into his organisation. His first task is the routine delivery of 10,000 AUD, but it ends disastrously when the money is stolen by two homeless teenagers. Since Pando isn’t known for forgiving such mistakes, the only way for Jimmy to stay alive is to quickly find 10,000 AUD and compensate Pando for his loss. Thankfully, Deidre (played by Susie Porter), Jimmy’s late brother’s widow, brings Jimmy into the group that is about to rob a bank. Jimmy’s life, however, is still in danger when a series of small coincidences results in major trouble.
Two Hands was the feature directorial debut for Jordan and - due to its setting in a criminal milieu, black humour, non-linear narration, and a number of absurd coincidences in the plot – shows a clear influence of the works of Quentin Tarantino. While the Tarantinoesque formula became somewhat less effective in the late 1990s, Two Hands looked refreshing because of its Australian setting and local cast and scenery that gave the film a very specific flavour. This works best in the first two-thirds of the film, when the audience is introduced to a number of bizarre characters and even more bizarre coincidences that guide the plot. In the last third, however, the film sinks into predictability, and the character of Jimmy’s dead brother (played by Steve Vidler), who also serves as the film’s narrator, isn’t developed properly. The cast is, on the other hand, superb and that includes not only the young Ledger but also the veteran Bryan Brown, who plays the vicious but intelligent gang boss. Two Hands, although relatively unknown compared with Ledger’s later works, won a number of Australian top film awards.
The text has been revised to improve accuracy and readability in British English.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/ Leofinance blog https://leofinance.io/@drax.leo
Unstoppable Domains: https://unstoppabledomains.com/?ref=3fc23fc42c1b417 Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax Bitcoin Lightning HIVE donations: https://v4v.app/v1/lnurlp/qrcode/drax Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax 1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
