My only reason for watching this is because I caught the tail end of it on cable and saw the ending before I saw the re-run of the film starring GUY PEARCE, an actor whom I liked in L.A. CONFIDENTIAL and MEMENTO. It's no more than an average crime caper movie but watchable enough to pass the time.

It's one of those hard to define flicks about a trio of hoodlums (brothers, actually) who are exploited by a crooked lawyer and, in the end, decide to take revenge. That's the basic plot in a nutshell, with some equally corrupt cops thrown into the mix. But first time Aussie director Scott Roberts has taken some very far out material with lots of quirky potential and turned it into a fairly interesting heist film that moves swiftly toward a most unlikely ending. Along the way there are a lot of twists and turns--watch especially for the crucial scene where Pearce decides to take care of the corrupt lawyer all by himself until the unexpected happens.

RACHEL GRIFFITHS is effectively cunning as Pearce's blonde and trashy wife, and JOEL EDGERTON has fun with his role as the wildest brother who is most brazen about his prison behavior with a counselor. A guy by the name of ROBERT TAYLOR is apparently unaware of his moniker's use by an already famous classic star.

With a serious/comic flavor, it starts out promisingly but turns into an average thriller aided and abetted by an upbeat musical score.

Warning: Lots of profanity, sexual doings and coarse lingo make it unacceptable for the kiddies. A major flaw are the heavy Australian accents which blur much of the dialog.

"The Hard Word", just another B-flick about a bunch of people after a bunch of money, sticks Pearce front and center with a beard and perpetual sneer as a bad/good guy with Griffiths looking equally out of her element as his blond bimbo in a padded bra. Everything about this convoluted flick is ordinary, uninspired, and just so much of the same old stuff we've all seen soooooo many times before. "The Hard Word" does not distinguish itself in any way and is probably destined to die a slow death on late night Aussie tv. A step backward for Pearce and Griffiths. Not recommendable. (C)

I love Guy Pearce, with or without nose putty, so I picked up The Hard Word from 2002. It also stars Rachel Griffiths of "Six Feet Under" fame, Robert Taylor, Joel Edgerton, and Damien Richardson.

Pearce, Richardson, and Edgerton play the Twentyman brothers, Dale, Mal, and Shane. They're experienced armed robbers. They are currently in prison, but when they're released on bail, they have time for one job until they need to return to prison due to a "paperwork" problem.

Their attorney, Frank (Robert Taylor) is in love with Dale's wife Carol (Griffiths),and Dale suspects. He wants to run away with her. Frank arranges for them to pull off a multi-million dollar heist in Melbourne, though Dale questions his motives.

Frank has some locals to work with them - and Dale sees how this is going to play out. The locals will work with them, all right, then kill them. Frank will then have Carol to himself.

The heist portion of this film was definitely the best part, very exciting, moved quickly, with a lot of suspense and cleverness. As for the rest of it, I didn't care for it as I did't like any of the characters, nor do I like pig slaughter, a description of it, and talk of blood sausages. Yuk.

As a blond, Griffiths looked terrific and did a good job as Dale's sexy and cool wife.

The rest of the acting was good - Pearce, Edgerton, Richardson, and Taylor are all familiar faces. Pearce is a true chameleon and pulled off the low-rent Dale very well, and Taylor was handsome and smooth as their manipulative attorney.

Not a favorite. I think men will like it, though.