The Hard Word (IMDB) (Netflix)
An Aussie noir, with Guy Pearce (L.A. Confidential, Memento) and Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under). Pearce is one of three brothers who have made a not-very-lucrative career out of robbing banks and armored cars, and the next big score is the race track, with the help of a shady lawyer and some crooked cops, and Griffiths is his less-than-faithful wife. There's something about the ponies that attracts the ne'er-do-wells and the screenwriters.

It's an earthy, quirky goulash of a story, hitting a lot of different notes—ruthlessness, fecklessness, dark comedy and betrayal—while maintaining its footing, a difficult trick. Pearce seems to relish being a scruffy, feverish lout for a change, while Griffiths is as unsympathetic a soulmate as you could find. There was one plot point that now seems to have been a bit of a cheat, but otherwise a decent film about, as a buddy just summed up, "guys who think they're a lot smarter than they really are."