The Hard Word

2002

Johnny's comments:

The Hard Word is 2002 crime thriller about three brothers (Guy Pearce, Joel Edgerton, Damien Richardson), the Twentymen brothers, who are locked up in Long Bay Prison together for robbery. They are used by various lowlifes to perform robberies in return for a bit of money and certain prison privileges. When a bunch of corrupt cops have a proposition for them, a multi-million dollar robbery in Melbourne, they accept but hatch their own plan to stay out of jail. Things go wrong from the beginning. It turns out they are robbing bookies on Melbourne Cup Day, the biggest betting day of the year. Also the bent cops have sent along two nasty pieces of work to help out, with the intention of offing the Twentymen brothers afterwards. Then there's the older brother's girl (Rachel Griffiths) and her new lover, a shonky lawyer who want their share of the robbery. Pretty well made film with solid performances from a pretty decent cast, with an interesting vibe (including butcher's talk) which makes the film an enjoyable watch.

Rhondda Findleton film clip. Collage below

Leanne McCulloch film clip

The Actress

2005

The Actress is a Perth-based ultra low budget drama about three housemates, a supermarket worker, an office worker and a lesbian, who are looking for a fourth housemate and find one in Emma, an actress who immediately makes her presence felt. Emma seduces the the supermarket worker and they become a couple, then she seduces the lesbian and (you can guess the next bit) she seduces the office worker. She uses her wiles to disguise the fact that all she does all day is smoke pot and watch TV. Of course, something's gotta give and the supermarket worker starts to take it out on the other two, but more pointedly, the office worker who has become a bum too now that he got sacked for masturbating in the office. Not content with watching the house descend into madness, Emma takes it further culminating in a party where all hell breaks loose. Decent little unknown gem with an excellent performance from Caitlin Higgins (who doesn't seem to have done any other film acting, shame) who plays the trouble making minx with a hint of aloofness which makes the character even more devastating (and cheeky).

Caitlin Higgins film clip. Collages below