I've got a lot of work comin' up. I could use another set of hands.
"Something that's good can still have a little bit of bad in it, and something that's bad still has a little bit of good."
— The Man
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 10 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 arrives to find the woman dead and then loses the money before he's able to return it. Rightfully fearing Pando's wrath, Jimmy hatches a plan to rob a bank in order to pay him back.
The film provides examples of:
- Accidental Aiming Skills: Despite being a teen untrained in firearms, Helen manages to pull off several lucky shots at the end, including a headshot, and wipes out Pando and his gang. It is helped by the fact that the gang was caught completely off guard, having just received $10,000 from Jimmy.
- Advertised Extra: Despite her prominence in the film's posters, Rose Byrne's character Alex is a relatively minor role, and she is billed 12th in the credits.
- Affably Evil: Pando's transformation from cold gangster to loving father of a five year-old boy and back again is priceless. And when he and his gang grab Jimmy and drag him off to kill him, he is genuinely concerned for Alex's safety and gives her $20 so she can get a cab home.
- Artistic License – Gun Safety: Wozza is a professional bank robber who is presumably very familiar with firearms. However, after the robbery, he leaves the loaded guns lying around the lounge room where his kids are playing. And when his young son accidentally fires the shotgun—narrowly missing Jimmy and Deirdre—Wozza's main complaint is that he already has a splitting headache.
- Bank Robbery: Jimmy comes up with a plan to pay off the debt by robbing a bank the next day in Bankstown along with two others. The robbery is not without its problems. When returning with the cash bags, one of the men attempts to jump over the bank counter, but fails and lands unconscious on the bank floor. He is dragged by Jimmy into the car, and comes round just as the police begin shooting and returns fire. The getaway driver is killed by the police and the getaway car's tires are popped, forcing the two to steal another car, but the robbery is on the whole successful.
- 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.
- Brick Joke: As Jimmy returns home after losing the money & Pando's wheels, he hears a radio DJ announce a $10,000 competition being awarded the next day. The car he & Wozza jack after the bank robbery the next day just happens to be the car the station's roving reporter selects to win the money, but as they're trying to hide from the cops,
they run him off the freeway (while the whole scenario was being broadcast over the car radio, to boot). - Cement Shoes: The car thief who steals Acko's beloved Ford Falcon gets sent to the bottom of the harbor with an engine block chained to his feet.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Helen, the young girl who took the money from Jimmy, shows up towards the end and guns down Pando and his men as revenge for running over her friend Pete.
- Convenient Misfire: When Pando is trying to execute Jimmy using Acko's gun, it fails to go off because the latter put it through the wash, allowing Jimmy to flee. Later on it fails on him again at an even more inopportune moment, when one of the street kids shoots up Pando's joint and Acko is trying to shoot back.
- Drunk Rolling: The first time the street kid Pete is seen, he is stealing the wallet of someone passed out in an alley.
- 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.
- Groin Attack: When Jimmy breaks loose from Pando and his thugs, he kicks Pando in the nuts as he is escaping.
- Guilt by Coincidence: When Pando 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.
- Hesitant Sacrifice: Jimmy behaves this way when he thinks he's going to die in. The scene is not intended to make Jimmy look like a coward, but rather an ordinary guy who's in way over his head.
- Hidden Depths: Pando is the brutish crime boss who rules Kings Cross, but also knows origami and is an expert Scrabble and chess player.
- 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 go swimming is not a great idea.
- Improvised Weapon: Les grabs some coins out of a busker's case in order to use a pay phone. When the busker objects, Les snatches his saxophone off him and tosses it to the ground; breaking it. Just as Les is about to call Pando, the busker hits him over the head with the broken saxophone; knocking him out.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Acko runs over a seemingly random kid and tosses away his body. Later, the kid's friend shows up at Pando's joint and shoots everyone, including Acko, in retaliation.
- Look Both Ways: The street kids Pete and Helen go on a spending spree with the money they stole off Jimmy. When they are returning, they start to cross the road and Pete gets run down by Acko. Helen watches in disbelief as Acko simply picks the dead boy's body off the street and dumps it in the gutter, concerned more about the damage to his car.
- Missed Him by That Much: After returning the $10,000 to Pando, Jimmy leaves Pando's parlour and walks past Helen the street kid. Unbeknownst to him, Helen is seeking revenge for the killing of her friend, and has Jimmy stayed a minute late, he might have ended up being one of the casualties.
- Mr. Fanservice / Ms. Fanservice: Ledger and Byrne, both 19 at the time.
- Non-Protagonist Resolver: Jimmy returns to Pando's office to pay off his debt, but thinking he has a gun the gang once again attempt to kill him. He is able to give them the money, and is offered more work by Pando as a result. Jimmy leaves in disgust after pulling a gun on Pando. As Jimmy leaves, Helen the street kid passes Jimmy, and in retaliation for the death of her friend Pete she shoots Pando and his gang dead.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: In keeping with the working class/criminal nature of the setting, several characters are only ever addressed by their nickname. This includes Alex's brother Rocket, the bank robber Wozza, and the gangsters Pando, Acko and Wallynote .
- Pistol-Whipping: During the Bank Robbery, one of the customers tries to get off the floor and Jimmy slams him in the gut with the butt of the shotgun.
- Plethora of Mistakes: The bank robbery starts off smoothly. Things start to unravel when one of the customers gets lippy and Jimmy has to beat him down. Then Wozza knocks himself out attempting to hurdle the counter, and Jimmy as to fetch the Getaway Driver Craig from the car to help him carry out Wozza. This means that Craig is not keeping watch outside the bank and two cops arrive without being spotted. The cops open fire and Craig is killed in the fusillade of shots. Jimmy is forced to dump Wozza in the car, where he groggily comes round and returns fire. Jimmy tries to start the car and get away, but the cops Pop the Tires, forcing Jimmy and Wozza to carjack another vehicle before they can escape.
- Pop the Tires: During the botched bank robbery, one of the cops shoots out both rear tires on the getaway car. This causes the tires to shred when they try to take off, rendering the car useless and forcing them to abandon it.
- Posthumous Character: Jimmy's brother Michael delivers a posthumous monologue early in the film while attempting to tunnel up through the Earth's core, and later shows up as a ghost.
- The Precious, Precious Car: Acko's beloved ford Falcon that he loves more than anything else in the world. Pando makes him loan it to Jimmy to make the delivery, and Acko threatens him with grievous bodily harm if it acquires a single dent or scratch. After Jimmy screws up the job and loses Pando's money, he abandons the car in a lane way, where it is promptly stolen.
- Robbing the Mob Bank: The street kids Helen and Pete steal the $10,000 Jimmy was holding for Pando; although this causes trouble for Jimmy rather than for Helen and Pete. Later a car thief steals Acko's beloved Ford Falcon. The mechanic to whom he delivers it to be stripped happens to be a friend of Acko's and recognizes it immediately.
- Shirtless Scene: More than one. And yes, ladies, we're talking about Ledger.
- Spanner in the Works: The film's plot would not have happened if Jimmy didn't bury the money in sand and go swimming while on a job, thus attracting the attention of two thieving street kids.
- Suspicious Ski Mask: Jimmy and two accomplices wear these when robbing a bank, in order to pay off the debt Jimmy owes to crime boss Pando.