Dirty Deeds

Professional Australian Bryan Brown re-enforces his credentials as he plays 1960s Sydney crime lord Barry Ryan. Despite his occasional propensity for extreme violence, Barry is a fairly reasonable sort who looks after his own. His sister's kid Darcy (Worthington) returns home from the war in Vietnam, unsure of what direction he wants his life to go. Barry takes him under his wing, setting him up for a life of debt collection and fairly low brow crime. But when the Italian Mafia despatch a couple of hoods - Goodman and Williamson - to Sydney to muscle in on Ryan's lucrative scams, it seems that the local boy may have his hands full. A curious blend of comedy and drama which never finds a comfortable middle ground, Dirty Deeds is one of those films which must have appeared to be a far more interesting proposition on the page. One would be forgiven for assuming that Dirty Deeds is David Caesar's debut as an auteur, as it is completely over directed. He crams too much into each a scene and is prone to using flashy gimmicks and camera tricks far too eagerly to make any lasting impact. If he'd been as eager to flesh out his story and characters, Dirty Deeds would have made for a far more satisfying excursion. As it is, this movie is all about surfaces and they aren't that interesting to look at.