Before shady businessman John Singer disappeared off Bondi Beach, his name meant money--big and small, clean and dirty--a man absorbed in a world of greed and dishonesty. Singer's widow, Marion, believes he's still alive and she employs the investigative skills of the tough, no-nonsense private eye, Cliff Hardy to find him. Battered and bruised, Hardy battles through the filth of corruption and the stench of political blackmail. He comes face to face with the crime bosses, who feed off human misery and eliminate their rivals without thinking twice. From the high life and low life of Sydney, to the seediness and splendour of Bondi Beach, Cliff Hardy uncovers the ultimate truth.
Acting
Bryan Brown's effortless toughness — he makes getting punched look like art.
Cinematography
Bondi Beach never looked this morally bankrupt. Gorgeous grime.
Production
Sydney's 1985 underbelly preserved like a sweaty time capsule.
Director
Chris Thomson
Bryan Brown
Cliff Hardy
Anna Maria Monticelli
Anne Winter
Ray Barrett
MacLeary
John Wood
Parker
Belinda Giblin
Marion Singer
Peter Collingwood
Fred Ward
Kerry Mack
Hildegard
Joss McWilliam
Tal
Sally Cooper
Sandy Modesto
Nick Tate
Brian Henneberry
Rhys McConnochie
Garth Green
Steve Rackman
Rex
Deborah Kennedy
Newspaper Librarian
Robert Alexander
Bob
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on Peter Corris's popular Cliff Hardy novels — Australia's answer to Philip Marlowe, complete with local beer and worse decisions.
Bryan Brown was already a star but this bombed so hard it became a VHS curiosity; the novel's fans still argue it deserved better.
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