re:mote voices

Title: The Hard Word
Cast: Guy Pearce, Rachel Griffiths, Robert Taylor, Joel Edgerton
Director:Scott Roberts

the hard word is an australian crime drama, with two of the countries biggest exports in lead roles - guy pierce (memento, la confidential) and rachel griffith (six feet under, muriel's wedding). the story follows the release of the three twentyman brothers from prison. the three are responsible for a number of robberies over the years, and no sooner are they out than they are robbing an armoured car. they seem to have an arrangement with their lawyer and a couple of local policemen which should mean they get away with it. but before they know it they are behind bars again, and dale, the brains of the brothers, is convinced there is something going on - something which includes their lawyer sleeping with his wife. with a series of promises and excuses the brothers are kept in prison for weeks more than they were expecting - finding themselves set up so that they have to do a big job to get out. but things have changed since the various parties started working together, and this job will be the end of it all as each side schemes to betray/revenge/kill the other.

the hard word is kind of curious, it could have been quite a good film, instead is about manages a not bad. the pacing seems a little off, so that there is a lot of down time, a lot of waiting to see if anything is going to happen time. which can work, but here seemed to drag some. from the start there is a definite, deliberate nastiness to the film. an attempt to give it grit. the title sequence is a basket ball game in the prison yard, and it has an undercurrent of violence, which extends through the film - erupting at various moments. with that guy pierce looks dreadful, he looks gaunt, his beard is scraggly, overall looking incredibly rough and filthy. this is a look to some degree that the other two brothers have as well. rachel griffith's smiley face is likely to be one that is memorable in terms of being "wonderfully" tacky.

as the titles go up at the start of the film i notice that the soundtrack is provided by australian electronic musician david thrussel (black lung, snog, soma, etc.). with that his influence on the accompanying music was obvious, some snogisms coming through clearly. at times he is playing up to the whole cliche of espionage/heist film soundtracks, but ramping it up in a self-knowing fashion. there are other times where he plays to a more atmospheric/free-reign approach that is interesting to hear at work.

particularly with the big job that the film is working towards there is an energy to the film. the job going off in a manic fashion, which is enhanced and exaggerated by that gritty/dirty sense and the feel of the sound track. so that this film could work, and to some degree i admit that i did enjoy it. though in the end there is just something, that doesn't entirely click - most likely the pacing.