The Hard word

Australia, 2002

Film
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Taking its cues from the harder edged of the classic crime genre spectrum (in particular Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing), writer/director Scott Robert’s The Hard word manages to work into the mix some off the wall humour and quirky characterization. Guy Pearce, Joel Edgerton and Damien Richardson star as the Twentyman brothers Dale, Mal and Shane, three hardened criminals serving out a prison sentence for armed robbery. Aided by their very crooked lawyer Frank Malone (a gleefully corrupt Robert Taylor), the brothers are given an early bail release, with one very compromising proviso, they have to pull off a dangerous casino heist. To complicate things further Frank is having an affair with Dale’s wife Carol (played with slutty abandon by Rachel Griffiths). Naturally things go from bad to worse as the heist takes a violent turn and the boys discover that they are being tailed by two dodgy cops (Vince Colossimo and Paul Sonkkila) with an unlawful agenda of their own. Cast includes: Rhondda Findleton, Kym Gyngell, Kate Atkinson.

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Collection

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Credits

director

Scott Roberts

producer

Al Clark

production company

Film Finance Corporation Australia

Duration

01:39:00:00

Production places
Australia
Production dates
2002

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If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/93934--the-hard-word-dvd/ |title=The Hard word |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=5 November 2024 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}