The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee

I suspect that some of the poor ratings are because so many American cousins don't understand self deprecation. Paul Hogan is a natural and very funny comedian and the stars that pop up along the way are also happy to take the mickey out of themselves. John Cleese as an Uber type driver is comedy gold as is Chevy Chase acting out in restaurants. The premise behind this film is superbly observed and it rattles along at a good pace. As a comment on Hollywood pretensions and shallowness it is well timed and it says something about Paul Hogan that he got so many A list celebs to appear or have their names taken in vain.

I thoroughly enjoyed the comedy and it was all pulled together nicely in the last scenes. Not sure where Hogan goes from here but I hope we see more of him.

After seeing so many scathing reviews I decided to watch it anyway. In covid times this movie provides light relief and a chuckle here and there. I do forgive the short comings of the film. Paul Hogan portrays a sense of sadness which revolves around the aging process and that gives the film some merit and a few bitter sweet humorous moments. Like the weaker of the Marx Brothers movies the world is a better place that they exist rather than not.

Lots of humor at Paul's expense, cool cameos and many of the jokes are well-written and effective. I liked it. John Cleese is especially hilarious.

I think more than anything else, it was a well deserved stab at the media. Both regular and social. About how something so simple, a simple mistake can be taken well out of context for a headline and engaging in schadenfreude with the outcome.

That said, it was fun. I enjoyed it. It was pretty funny at times, a bit corny at times, all too real at times. There are many more higher budgeted movies that aren't half as good. The movie is a pleasant way to spend an hour and a half with the family of an evening.

I give it 7 stars because it's not awards material. It's just good family fun.

Okay, Hoges is 80 now so those expecting him to be as funny in his heyday is expecting too much. That being said, this movie is still very funny because he plays the situations he's placed in well and, frankly, he's still got it in my opinion. Whoever wrote and directed this deserve praise too. Some probably don't like that the current politics is played for laughs but its hardly something that hasn't been done before, the random person the goofball stuffing up and being falsely accused, and becoming a social pariah. I laughed a lot so that's the main thing.