A good-but-not-great caper film.
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06/27/03
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The Hard Word (2003)
40
%
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Reviews Counted:81
Fresh:32
Rotten:49
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: This caper flick lacks the originality necessary to elevate it above other films of its genre.
Theatrical Release:Jun 13, 2003 Limited
Box Office: $400,844
Synopsis: Three prisoners are about to be released on bail - DALE (GUY PEARCE), MAL (DAMIEN RICHARDSON) and SHANE (JOEL EDGERTON). Meet the Twentyman brothers. Hard experience and an unspoken bond of... [More]
Starring: Guy Pearce, Rachel Griffiths, Robert Taylor, Damien Richardson
Director: Scott Roberts
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Reviews for The Hard Word
Every heist movie trope is trotted out and given an Australian accent.
09/06/03
Set in Australia, this rock 'em, sock 'em tug of war is a solid bit of nasty fun from Down Under.
03/25/03
A wily, performance-driven heist-gone-wrong picture with shrewd underworld savvy reminiscent of Snatch without the smug self-awareness.
07/01/03
The movie-jaded will dismiss The Hard Word as just another slick heist flick with a band of burglar buddies. Too bad for their cynical souls. They'll be missing a grand (theft) time.
07/31/03
Top CriticThere's a certain fun factor in the comedy-of-errors part of the venture
06/09/03
The three Twentyman brothers are so good at stealing stuff you wonder why they couldn't have swiped a better heist movie.
07/25/03
The Hard Word strains to be light on its feet but piles too much on its plate: characters come and go, changing personality at the director's whim, and you're never quite sure who's getting the shaft.
06/28/03
Top CriticThe Hard Word never steals our hearts, though it does kill time.
06/28/03
Top CriticThere isn't much about the movie that "a more good-natured, Australian-flavored LOCK, STOCK & 2 SMOKING BARRELS" doesn't sum up.
06/27/03
The dialogue has the aching banality of would-be wit. . .
06/08/03
a mish-mash of post-mod noir ideas (the butcher, the redeemed femme, cannibalism) arranged with little respect for rhyme and reason.
06/25/03
The Hard Word is not a complete failure, just a familiarized one that’s not going to woo away any fans of the directors who know how to do it right. And hundreds of times before.
04/03/03
'Amiable' is an odd way to describe a crime drama that contains wall-spattering amounts of bloodshed, but it fits The Hard Word.
07/08/03
Top CriticI liked the premise and the basic storyline, it's a great mix of action and comedy, but it lacks focus.
03/24/03
This movie could obviously go on fooling us forever, but we are good sports only up to a point, and then our attention drifts.
06/28/03
Top CriticIt's way below Jackie Brown and even Trainspotting, though the cast has that Aussie Thing down.
06/28/03
A compendium of caper clichés and stylistic Tarantino-isms in which neither the getting nor the getting away is particularly gripping.
06/18/03
Roberts always grounds the film with the consistency of his characters and manages to punctuate proceedings with an 'Am I really seeing that?' moment about every 10 minutes.
07/17/02
Top CriticAn Australian crime caper that's one part Sexy Beast, one part The Full Monty, and three parts very flat soda.
06/11/03
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