The Hard Word Critic Reviews

Amusingly gamy, an anecdotal crime film that's an antidote to the pile of overly slick robbery pictures of the past few years.Read the full review

Interests us in ways we don't expect. It has a mordant sense of humor and a gift for character and incident that has attracted two of Australia's best actors -- Guy Pearce and Rachel Griffiths -- as well as an excellent supporting cast. Read the full review

Hard-boiled entertainment in the Tarantino mold is leavened with a distinctively Aussie sense of humor in The Hard Word. Read the full review

Tense and compelling, with the added charm of a mischievous spirit. Read the full review

This movie could obviously go on fooling us forever, but we are good sports only up to a point, and then our attention drifts. Shame, since there's so much good stuff in it, like how effortlessly Rachel Griffiths keeps two tough guys completely at her mercy. Read the full review

Roberts' script and direction show sparks of wit, but the plot comes lifted from countless heist films. Read the full review

Wonderful characters, these three, and The Hard Word never figures out what to do with them. Read the full review

An Australian crime caper that's one part ''Sexy Beast,'' one part ''The Full Monty,'' and three parts very flat soda. Read the full review

Like many dreams that enliven filmmakers' nights, this one derives from other, better films, though it does have a few clever twists. Read the full review