Two Hands
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DVD Cover Information Actor: Bryan Brown, David Field, Heath Ledger, Rose Byrne, Tom Long Brand: Buena Vista Home Video DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1 Format: Color, NTSC, Subtitled Picture Format: 1.85:1 Running Time: 103 minutes DVD Release Date: 2005-12-06 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Studio: Miramax Home Entertainment |
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Movie Reviews of Two Hands
Movie Review: Simpleton in all aspects, documentary-like
Summary: 1 Stars
TWO HANDS (1993) is a foreign movie that will interest those viewers
looking for action, thrills of the lives of small-time gangsters in
Australia. The main drawing card is Bryan Brown, of Full Body Massage
fame (with Mimi Rogers) way back when.
The entire project and experience is well intentioned. However, it
brings into focus the essential movie ingredient, or lack thereof, of
talent. Much like a coroner dissecting corpses sees life differently
(with a different training too) than a poet versed in arts, a film
maker of documentaries is trained differently, with a diverse
skillset and innate talent than a movie entertainer. This aspect is
what makes TWO HANDS so difficult for many in the audience.
The picture is more of something that could be compulsory viewing in
public schools, at the elementary and highschool levels, as an
educative tool about making the wrong choices in a career, and life.
It doesn't sit well for those looking for entertainment, among
people paying for a ticket.
The strength of the picture, is the tasteful, local-artist soundtrack
selection, with a few hard rock numbers at the right moments,
throughout the picture, and the no-nonsense approach of many of the
actors. As well, it correctly brings forth the concept of "yin and
yang" and "karma" such that, sooner or later, dastardly deeds
committed will boomerang to the perpetrator.
The weak point is obviously the entire project, as a movie
experience. For starters, there is the utopic, idealistic teenage
romance that goes on from start to end, involving Heath Ledger and
Rose Byrne, pigeonholing the movie's demographics.
Next, there is the absurd massacre committed by a first-time pistol
user, a 10 to 12 year old youngster, whose pal got cut down in a
hit-and-run, bringing blowback to the gang. Did the script writer
really think experienced, skilled, practiced thugs could get mowed
down by this type of aggressor without offering defense, security,
any lookout, backups? This point weakens the movie's credibility and
tests the audience's patience.
In addition, there is the relentless suggestion or urgent need of the
director to remind the audience that those thugs are sincere,
warm-hearted human beings, with families of their own, by frequently
showing them with their wives, their below 5 year old kids, by
showing them taking part in scrabble and chess, on a regular basis at
HQ, for example.
Another annoyance, is suggesting a bank heist's authors can't spare
more than 15 minutes in planning the entire operation. They even hire
a key member for the operation, in a youth, Ledger, who has no
experience using a pistol, or street smarts from any past "jobs".
Things go from bad to worse, when the script suggests someone with an
envelope containing $10 large would go swimming at the beach, leaving
the amount unprotected, even with a gangster breathing down his neck,
and even with needing to prove his value as a "trainee" in the
"organization", suggesting the youngster has an IQ and thought
processes of a baboon.
Overall, over the 90 mins, this feels like a camouflaged documentary
or a twisted biography more than anything else.