Two Hands – Review

Jimmy (Ledger) is a young man with big dreams. His hobby is boxing, and his job is as a barker on the street outside of a strip club, looking to bring new customers into the venue. He and his co-worker Les (Paramore) do their best to spark interest in the ladies inside, but the pay isn’t much and it’s not taking Jimmy to the heights he envisions. His older brother Michael (Vidler) got into the crime and gangster game, however is unfortunately now dead. This does not stop Michael from being a ‘beyond the grave’ narrator for this film, speaking to the camera and moving along with the tale.

One night outside the club, Jimmy meets Alex (Byrne), who is his friend Rocket’s (Wilkinson) sister. There is immediate attraction. A minute or so later, local mobster Pando (Brown) pulls up and gives Jimmy a heads up on some possible work. This may just be the in that Jimmy is looking for!! After bumping into Alex the following morning, he makes his way over to the gangster’s place and talks to Pando.

The job? Courier $10,000 to a woman named Sharon over in the beach town of Bondi. The delivery work will even pay him $500. He is even allowed to borrower Acko’s (Field) car, who is Pando’s top man, though he pouts as he just got the gearbox done. Nothing could go wrong with this whole plan, of course!

As Jimmy winds up with some missing cash, he is put in a bad spot, and must go to extremes to get out of trouble. As his deceased brother Michael watches the film’s many players, it is clear that violent and crazy shenanigans are coming. Will Jimmy wind up saving his skin, and maybe even landing the hottie Alex along the way? Or, will he botch everything so badly that he winds up reuniting with Michael far too soon?

Two Hands is a good crime thriller. It mixes in many characters and some sub-plots in typical film fashion. Even if the script does not bring anything too surprising story wise, there are plenty of darkly comic and fun moments, and lots of colliding criminal events. The young Ledger and Byrne are great, though the whole cast is solid.

The writer/director is able to balance the elements presented in a natural way, and creates a cohesive and entertaining crime adventure. Despite winning some awards in Australia, this film sadly never hit U.S. theaters, and is relatively unknown despite its stars. For fans of crime capers, this one should be seen as it features all the right elements.