Two Hands

Plot synopsis:
Jimmy, while working at a strip club in Kings Cross, is approached by local mob boss Pando who says he has work for him. Pando gives Jimmy $10,000 to deliver to a woman in Bondi, and when she appears not to be home, he goes for a swim on the beach. Unfortunately the $10,000 is stolen by two street kids while he is swimming, leaving him heavily indebted to the furious Pando and his gang. The street kids, Pete (Evan Sheaves) and Helen (Mariel McClorey), go on a spending spree with their newfound wealth.
The car Jimmy was using on the job—a Ford Falcon belonging to Pando's associate Acko—is stolen by a young man and taken to a mechanic with the intention of selling it. The mechanic happens to be a friend of Acko's, who, displeased at the news of his car being stolen, suspects Jimmy's involvement. Acko arrives to recover the car but on the way there his car hits and kills street kid Pete. Helen watches in disbelief as Acko simply picks the dead boy's body off the street and dumps it in the gutter, concerned more about the damage to his car. He drives off leaving Helen alone, crying by her dead friend.
Jimmy comes up with a plan to pay off the debt by robbing a bank the next day in Bankstown, New South Wales along with two others. The night before he arranges to meet new friend and love interest Alex (Rose Byrne) at a pub. Unfortunately the meeting's arrangements are heard by Les, a friend jealous of Alex's attraction to Jimmy and keen to get in with Pando's gang. After Les informs the gang of the couple's whereabouts, Jimmy is forced to flee the pub with Alex, attempting to escape on the Sydney Monorail, however the escape proves unsuccessful and Jimmy is taken to a remote location where the gang plan to kill him. Through the indirect intervention of Jimmy's dead brother (who acts as a guardian angel figure throughout the film), Jimmy is able to escape and make his way back home to prepare for the bank robbery.
The robbery is not without its problems. When returning with the cash bags, one of the men attempts to jump over the bank counter, but fails and lands unconscious on the bank floor. He is dragged by Jimmy into the car, and comes round just as the police begin shooting and returns fire. The getaway driver is killed by the police but the robbery is on the whole successful. Jimmy gets the money he needs, escaping in a stolen Toyota Celica with his remaining accomplice. Ironically, the stolen auto's radio station bumper sticker is spotted by that station's competition team, who give chase attempting to award Jimmy a $10,000 prize. Not wanting to be identified after the robbery, Jimmy rams them off the road.
Jimmy returns to Pando's office to pay off his debt, but thinking he has a gun the gang once again attempt to kill him. He is able to give them the money, and is offered more work by Pando as a result. Jimmy leaves in disgust after pulling a gun on Pando. As Jimmy leaves, Helen the street kid passes Jimmy, and in retaliation for the death of her friend Pete she shoots Pando and his gang dead. The movie ends with Jimmy and Alex buying tickets at an airport to a location 'up north' away from the pressures of life in Sydney.
=== Extended or alternative ending ===
The Australian DVD released film ends as described above and does not feature any other type of ending as an extra or outtake on the DVD. However the televised version of the film featured a longer ending. Immediately after the scene with Jimmy and Alex purchasing their air tickets, is a scene where Jimmy's brother Michael delivers a brief monologue completing the karmic message of the film. A beam of light shines down from the heavens and Michael attempts to run to the light, however he is grabbed by a series of hands which erupt from the ground and pull him back down into the earth that he escaped from in the opening introduction scene of the film.

Tags: comedy, murder, allegory, violence, flashback, revenge

Review:
and all the time I had my fingers crossed that things would work out for Jimbo!Heath Ledger and Rose Bryne are superb, Bryan Brown is absolute quality and had me creasing up, along with David Field, who was funny as well as being an evil git.Since I saw this film I managed to order it on DVD and as a result, every person I show it to has been hooked in much the same way.
Jimmy (Heath Ledger) is given a simple job by Pando (Bryan Brown) a underworld kingpin to deliver money to a particular address, but when no one answers the door Jimmy decides to take a dip at the beach to pass some time, but he notices that his clothes on the sand have been messed up and the 10 grand is gone.
"Two Hands" is a good addition to the Australian Film Catalogue.It is that curious mix of real life, surreal life, comedy, tragedy and love the Australians have developed on their own.Heath Ledger is basically a good if naive guy.
Although there is a lawless theme through the story, it is not glorified and helps to show how destructive crime can be on normal lives.Heath Ledger is excellent as Jimmy, innocent and savvy at the same time, Rose is hypnotic as Alex and Bryan is marvellous as usual.
From Bryan Brown in his Hawiian Shirts and thongs to Blue Monaros and boys (Heath Ledger) too busy chasing girls to worry about their life, this film is wonderful.
5 Years ago if you were to watch an Australian film you would expect to see crocodile hunters, stories of war, drag queens, kangaroos and koalas, and Australians in general being represented as nitwits living off the land, saying words like cobber' and generally being the classic underdog.Luckily Australian film has evolved over the last couple years and is churning out modern day classics' such as Blackrock, Moulin Rouge, Chopper, Yolngu Boy and Sample People.In this evolution of film we also find Two Hands.Set in Sydney's Kings Cross, Two Hands is a black comedy about crime and survival in the rough end of town.
The inspiration for this film was the fact that American Gangsters are well dresses, but the Aussies, well when you might kill a guy as soon as look at the blighter, then you can dress as badly as you want and people won't criticize you.Jimmy is fighter, an illegal boxer, sometimes bouncer and is offered work by Pando, the local gangster boss in the cross (That is, Australia's notorious Kings Cross District, not the Cross of London fame as many a British backpacker finds out the hard way).Due to feelings of love he stuffs up a job, loses a lot of money and has to get it to Pando before Pando and his heavies can kill him.Lots of dark humour, interesting action, revelations about the Australia's underside and human nature.
It is very centred in the Australian nature and explores the nature of Australian criminals (versus the American and British ones).One problem is that each of the elements of the story don't have enough substance and depth, but it is a painting with broad strokes that covers a lot of area not covered previously, so as an overall package it is worthwhile.Team it up with "Chopper" and "Dirty Deeds" for your Aussie Crime fest or "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Miller's Crossing" for an International falling short of the criminal gangs fest.By the way, Bryan Brown is a great actor who has just done a huge number of really bad movies.
Jordan takes us into the seedy crime side of Sydney, Australia, following the desperate attempt of nineteen year old Jimmy, (Heath Ledger), who bundles a job for a local gangster and needs to make amend before they get to him.
Under the watchful eye of his brother, who has dug himself up from hell to see if Jimmy can learn from his mistake, Jimmy stumbles through a series of misadventures to get to safety.This is very enjoyable - one of the many modern black comedies that use small time criminals as the starting points of violently funny stories.
The characters link together tidily and the story is very enjoyable.The director kicks Australian cinema in the ass by delivering a very stylish package, from the intense scenes of sudden violence, the really visually clever credit sequence right down to the great soundtrack and camera work, this is a stylish feast.
It's hard to know what to make of this weird little Aussie crime flick - on the one hand, it's an enjoyable little film with a great sense of humour; but on the other, it just lacks a certain something that ensures the film never reaches above it's boundary that keeps it trapped within the merely 'interesting' territory.
That being said, Two Hands is a well plotted film that excellently juggles several stories at the same time, which allows several small climaxes throughout the movie, and that in turn helps to stop the film becoming boring.
The main overriding feature that makes this a good movie is the acting and direction of Heath Ledger and his successful portrayal of a naive young man who makes stupid mistakes for short-term gratification, thinking he is indestructible and not realizing that there are sinister people waiting to pounce on any mistake.
A underrated gem of a action thriller crime caper comedy that manages to wrap around multiple subplots quite neatly and always give you a couple of surprises along the way.Heath Ledger is very good in the lead, and co-stars as a young Rose Byrne as his romantic interest and Bryan Brown as a ruthless crime boss are also very good...
In fact all of the cast deliver what they are supposed to.I watched it 15 years ago and really liked it, I wasn't sure if it was gonna be one of those movies that could stand the test of time but it really turned out to be able to do that when I rewatched it today, so that was nice.Yeah well worth seeing, and then some.
Not that many people have seen this movie, but EVERYONE should, so I'm keeping spoilers to a minimum.There was a time when I used to think of Heath Ledger as a kind of Aussie Keanu Reeves: gorgeous, with bags of charisma and all the acting ability of half a brick.
And the two street-kids, crucial all through the story, are both brilliantly played and are given the very best of lines to play with.This movie contains some of the funniest scenes ever shot, like the astonishing bank robbery – funny because they are so tragic and so real.
Even the wildest improbabilities are made to seem not just believable, but almost inevitable: the bizarre climax in Pando's lair is perfectly natural, perfectly directed and perfectly played, right down to that almost despairing little shake of the head.In "Two Hands" a top script, deft direction and a number of career-best performances have come together to make a low-budget production of the very highest quality, and a perfect 10.
It's a pitch-black comedy, thriller and romance all at once.Jimmy (Heath Ledger) is a sweet-natured, dim-witted amateur boxer and aspiring thug who screws up -- big-time -- his first assignment from the local crime boss in the sleazy section of Sydney, then spends the rest of the film trying to put things right.This is a small, satisfying film that even manages to be a character study of sorts, and, at the end, we see a kind of rough justice exacted by a street kid who may end up being the next local mob kingpin (or, should I say, queenpin, because I had the impression that this was actually a tomboy-like girl, in an excellent performance).If you like seeing a slender, bare-chested, baby-faced, curly-headed Heath Ledger -- and, hell, who doesn't?
Romper Stomper, Priscilla, Muriel's, The Castle, but to name a few are all classics; and now Two Hands has earned that title.A very original movie, although the plot is nothing new, that uses black humour, shock tactics, romance and action to tell the plight of Jimmy, played by the excellent Heath Ledger.
It was wonderful to see Bryan Brown as a bad guy, and only an Aussie film could have a villain named Pando.
Heath Ledger does a good job of communicating a pretty uncommunicative, all right, I'll say it LACONIC character, I don't know if he's any good as an actor, not having been remotely interested in seeing any of his other projects.I wasn't quite so keen on the supernatural element, it could have done without that, I reckon, and there are people in this world who won't like the language (I've never seen or heard the c-word thrown about with such abandon) but great stuff, I wonder how it'd go with American audiences.
Heath Ledger was great as the luckless focal point of the movie while characters like Pando (Bryan Brown) and Acko gave great performances as the tuff guys.
The film carries a distinct Aussie humour, as it portrays the seedy underworld of Sydney, and explores the lives of a young man (Ledger) and young woman (Byrne), swept up in the local crime scene.Two Hands deals with the theme of good and evil, both on an interpersonal and personal level and looks at the issue of consequences for 'our' actions.The camera work is snazzy and the dialogue humorous.
With Bryan Brown who plays Pando and Heath Ledger as Jimmy, battling it out on-screen in the most bizarre situations - this Aussie film is certainly not short of acting talent.This subtle action/comedy has become somewhat of a cult favourite, and one of mine also..
Two Hands would probably be the most entertaining movie I have seen since The Castle in terms of straight humour - unlike so many movies, it manages to get it's laughs without seeming to try too hard, by picking up on the little everyday things that everyone (at least in Australasia) recognises.The movie would have been explained countless times - Jimmy gets in trouble with the big man on the Cross, Pando, because he loses $10,000 of his money.
So Pando and his thugs go after Jimmy, and puts Jimmy in a run for his life - and anything else he cares about.And so starts the story that is Two Hands.Alex (Rose Byrne) is the love interest of the film, and is simply charming on her way to capturing Jimmy's heart.
Rose makes an excellent start to her young and promising career, playing a girl from the country on holiday in the city.Heath Ledger gives an honest portrayal of a young lad in trouble and Bryan Brown gets back to his nasty best as the thug Pando.
To have a leading role alongside Heath Ledger and Bryan Brown in what must be the Australian movie of the year must be a dream for her.Two Hands is a great movie and combines all the essential elements of a film.
Like much Australian film, the plot is easy to follow yet wonderfully engaging, and Jordan should justly feel proud of his work.Anyway, it was on TV just now on Channel 4 in London, and my two favourite comedy scenes of not just this movie, but indeed any movie, had been cut out!
A lot of reviewers have also compared it to Lock/Stock and Pulp Fiction, while it is the same genre, it is a completely different and original style.A lot of reviewers have also panned this movie for using Heath Ledger's characters dead brother to open and guide the narrative for this movie, without watching the movie closely enough to realise that his brother was killed by the same villain that wishes to kill heaths character, this is explained midway through the movie but not clearly enough for most to understand.This movie is also reminiscent of Lock/Stock and Reservoir dogs in that it is the Director/writers debut feature, and for a debut feature it rates as well as these two movies, as a matter of fact like Lock/Stock and Reservoir Dogs I rate this movie as a 10/10 for a director/writers debut, unfortunately unlike Tarantino and Ritchie Jordan fails to live up to expectations in his subsequent movies like Ned Kelly.This movie is one that you should definitely add to your DVD collection and is one that holds up to several viewings quite easily..
Heath Ledger plays a naive yet overly keen to impress young hood who stuffs up his first job for Pando (Bryan Brown).
I approached Two Hands with the usual apprehension I have towards an Australian movie I have no idea about, and so I was delighted when I discovered what a good film it was.
i thought this movie was great.i have wanted a movie about australian crime world for some time now and this satisfied me.it was funny and suspenseful and i really liked it.i dont get those who said it was no good.it was definitely a must see for all Australians that like movies and dont have a chip on their shoulder.i think i am safe in saying Heath Ledger is going to be huge..
Two Hands is the best Australian film made for a long, long time and it is definitely the best gangster/crime flick ever made here.
It is violent and contains a lot of swearing but that is how dodgy characters who mill around Kings Cross are, so I believe this added to the realism of the film overall.A lot of reviews do not like Jimmys dead brother who makes a few appearances but I think he is handled very well - he doesn't actually appear physically to anyone in the film and he makes a great narrator.
unfortunately the films australianisms were a tad problematic,(sure thongs are popular, but they're not that popular, especially in Sydney where everyone dresses like they are coming out of Vogue magazine.) And what was the deal with Jimmy deciding to take a 'quick dip' in the hope of seeing Alex(Rose Byrne).
Heath Ledger stars in a dark comedy covering bank jobs, aussie gangsters, love, hate, zombies and a lot more.
Heath Ledger stars in a dark comedy covering bank jobs, aussie gangsters, love, hate, zombies and a lot more.
Hard and gritty, but with moments that will make you laugh, this is a great piece of film making.Heath Ledger is great as Jimmy - the slightly naive and mostly trusting lad living in what is probably one of the most corrupt areas of Sydney and Australia - King's Cross.Rose Byrne, besides being a hot, Hot, HOT new actress (both talent and looks) is a great 'girl from the sticks'.
On the other hand, he's a responsible father who likes to help his son out with origami.The contradictions in character for Pando and his boys is great - at one point, they're holding guns to people's heads and in the next scene Pando and Acko will be playing Chess!The links between events reminded me somewhat of "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels", but was perhaps more subtle in some places, and less in others.The great thing about this film is that unlike the plethora of action clones we get from Hollywood, this is all genuine people in believable situations.
Its great, REAL drama (I know most of the scenes where it was shot) and could happen to anyone - a slight  contradiction to this is the mystic element presented by Jimmy's dead brother, Michael, although it helps introduce audiences to the situation - more for the non-Australian viewers I'd suppose.I give 'Two Hands' 10 out of 10..
Jimmy (Heath Ledger) a dim young man handy with his fists gets a job from leading Kings Cross hoodlum Pando (Bryan Brown) delivering $10,000 cash to a woman at Bondi Beach.
So a humorous gangster flick with Heath Ledger in good form (though I'm not a fan) , and Bryan Brown in great action as a gang leader..
You laugh at his arrogance and rejoice in his downfall, yet you just can't help but like the guy.Heath Ledger is obviously an up-and-comer in light of his recent films, but shows a well deserved respect earlier on in his career in this movie.
Heath Ledger and Bryan Brown star in this film which never knows if it is a drama or a comedy.
the true comedy comes through when you compare a tough Gangster film like "Casino" to "Two hands" were instead of wondering about their next job the criminals are more worried about getting home in time to pick up the children from soccer practice and make sure they have dinner on time.The plot revolves around Jimmy, a young bouncer at a strip club in King's Cross who decides he wants more from life, especially cash.
Two Hands starring Heath Ledger and Bryan Brown interlaces black comedy, Kings Cross hoods and that special Australian light in a very enjoyable fashion.I was especially impressed by the pacing of this innovative Aussie film.
In 1985 The Empty Beach, also starring Bryan Brown as the detectivie Cliff Hardy, is the only one hat comes to mind.Heath Ledger also excels in Two Hands and he looks to be headed for a worthy career with his success as a young heart throb in the recent American mainstream film 10 Things I Hate About You also under his belt.But if I was heading for the movies I'd much rather see Two Hands than a vapid formula piece from the States like 10 things.
Heath Ledger and Bryan Johnson team up in this Aussie crime story/black comedy.
I liked Heath Ledger's part in this movie and I thought he played it very well.
I had never heard of this movie, but I like Heath Ledger and Bryan Brown and the story sounded interesting, so I figured I'd give it a shot.
It also stars a young Heath Ledger before he got real big in the states.This is a terribly underrated movie that I believe is just as good as Pulp Fiction and those greats.