THE VERY EXCELLENT MR. DUNDEE

Stars: Paul Hogan, Rachael Carpani, John Cleese, Chevy Chase, Wayne Knight, Jacob Elordi, Nate Torrence, Kerry Armstrong, Roy Billing, Charlotte Stent, Julia Morris and Olivia Newton-John.
Writers: Robert Mond and Dean Murphy.
Director: Dean Murphy.

Rating: ★ ★

It seems entirely appropriate that The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee, Paul Hogan’s latest feature film comedy, bypass cinemas to premiere on pay-platform Amazon Prime. Not only because ‘Hoges’ made his name as a small-screen comic 50+ years ago (a legacy that the production drives home in a nostalgic credit sequence), or because his only profile for many years was during the 6 o’clock bulletin. But because, under regular collaborator Dean Murphy’s static direction and a leaden script that asks too much of the leading man’s still-roguish charm, The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee plays like a sitcom pilot destined not to be picked up.

The 80 year-old Hogan plays a version of himself one suspects is not too far removed from real life. Still ensconced in the L.A. lifestyle, he has become a relic of 80s-era celebrity, not relevant at all since the second Crocodile Dundee film made some money a long while back. He is still taking meetings, discussing a new project with fawning Hollywood suits who think pairing him with Will Smith in a father-son premise is plausible (such is the level of industry satire in Murphy’s and Robert Mond’s script).

The big development in Hogan’s life is an invitation to accept an honour from Her Majesty, a ceremony that will only take place if he does what is demanded of him by his manager Angie (a game Rachael Carpani) - stay out of trouble. Cue trouble, largely in the form of Hoges’ inability to handle modern life, his largely befuddled state humoured by such celebrity pals as Chevy Chase, Wayne Knight, Reginald VelJohnson and Olivia Newton-John in cameo bits that fall flat. The only co-star who ups the ante is John Cleese, who riffs on his own tarnished celebrity as an alimony-burdened Uber driver willing to do anything for money.

The Very Excellent Mr Dundee is a particularly strange beast, in that it demands you recall what made Paul Hogan a global star, however briefly, then buy into why it has been a mixed blessing all these years. The takedown of a lifetime of celebrity trappings by a figure who has sought to exploit the very same feels awkwardly disingenuous. A sharper focus on the fleeting nature of celebrity or the long, dark shadow it casts might have worked; instead, the narrative dawdles and stumbles towards a contrived and convenient denouement. 

That said, as the final act in the career of a beloved industry patriarch, one can (sort of) forgive the sentimentality and melancholy that plays out in the film’s final frames. The Very Excellent Mr Dundee wraps on a fairytale high that Hogan’s legion of fans undoubtedly believe he has earned in real life; too bad it is denied his movie alter-ego, who deserves a better send off than this.