Two Hands (1999) is an Australian crime film starring Heath Ledger, Bryan Brown and Rose Byrne and directed by Gregor Jordan. It was praised by critics for its humour and the performances of Brown and the then relatively unknown Ledger and Byrne. It cemented Ledger's status as a star in his own country after his introduction to American audiences in
Ten Things I Hate About You.
Jimmy is a young man working as a bouncer in the red light district of King's Cross, Sydney. When gangster Pando gives him a chance to earn some extra money, Jimmy takes him up on the offer. Pando instructs Jimmy to deliver $10,000 to a woman in Bondi, but Jimmy loses the money before he is able to complete the task. Rightfully fearing Pando's wrath, Jimmy hatches a plan to rob a bank in order to pay him back.—-
The film provides examples of:
- Affably Evil: Pando's transformation from cold gangster to loving father of a five year-old boy and back again is priceless.
- Alone with the Psycho: Rose Byrne's one scene with Bryan Brown.
- Bank Robbery
- Berserk Button: For Pando, failure of any kind. For Jimmy, don't make light of his brother's death and especially don't tell him you and your mates were the ones who killed him.
- Chekhov's Gun: A thug's gun fails to go off because he put it through the wash. Later on it fails on him again at an even more inopportune moment.
- Convenient Misfire: See Chekhov's Gun.
- The young girl who took the money with her friend is a Chevhov's gunman. She shows up towards the end and guns down Pando and his men as revenge for running over her friend. One thug manages to fire back, but his gun is the one in the example above.
- Evil Parents Want Good Kids: Pando genuinely loves his young son, and with the exception of the long hours his particular line of work requires, there's nothing to suggest he's a bad parent.
- Guilt By Coincidence: A variation in which Pando is the authority. When he sees a drawing of his on one of the notes of the $10,000 Jimmy gives him at the end, he thinks Jimmy absconded with the money after all and then changed his mind. He has about two seconds to ponder this before one of the kids who actually took the money guns down him and his men.
- How We Got Here / In Medias Res: The film starts the middle of the story. It's night in the middle of nowhere, and Pando is about to kill Jimmy.
- Idiot Ball: Seriously, Jimmy, burying the money in the sand while you went swimming was a great idea.
- Mr Fan Service / Ms Fan Service: Ledger and Byrne, both 19 at the time.
- Posthumous Narration: Jimmy's brother delivers a monologue early in the film while attempting to tunnel up through the Earth's core.
- Shirtless Scene: More than one. And yes, ladies, we're talking about Ledger.
- The Crime Job
- You Have Failed Me
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