Qld: Croc critics maul Dundee

AAP General News (Australia)
04-21-2001
Qld: Croc critics maul Dundee

By Dale Paget

GOLD COAST, April 21 AAP - If Paul Hogan thought crocodiles can get nasty, it's nothing
compared to the mauling his latest Crocodile Dundee movie is getting from US film critics.

Crocodile Dundee in LA, which opens in the US today, has been torn apart with ferocious

attacks on Hogan and his latest edition to Australia's most successful home-grown movie
franchise.

The first two Crocodile Dundee movies earned more than US$500 million, and the third
was the biggest-grossing film in Australia this Easter.

Los Angeles Times film critic Jan Stuart described Croc in LA as "mind-numbing" and
Hogan's performance as a "clueless hillbilly act".

"The joke has withered as markedly as Hogan's face. After 15 years, he's ossified into
an Oz version of the ugly American tourist," Ms Stuart wrote.

Lisa Schwarzbaum, of Entertainment Weekly, was even less kind.

"It's hard to tell where Mick Dundee's reptile hide wardrobe ends and his epidermis
begins in Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles, so prehistorically leathery has creator and
star Paul Hogan become," Ms Schwarzbaum wrote.

"At this point, the actor doesn't just represent breezy Australian national character,
he's also a walking public service announcement for the importance of sunblock."

Real-life and on-screen wife Linda Kozlowski's doesn't escape.

"Kozlowski is as stiff and unyielding as her never-changing hairdo," suggested Erin
Free, of the Hollywood Reporter.

"The jokes are old, the comedy is forced, and the plot is absurd in its lurching obviousness,
descending to downright laziness."

While most reviewers believe the film will make the Crocodile Dundee franchise extinct,
a few admitted liking the film in spite of it's failings.

"Despite the predictability of the story and the gags, the film is surprisingly easy
to sit through, digest and even enjoy," said John Petrakis, of the Chicago Tribune.

"A lot has to do with Hogan's well-documented charisma as a performer ... There is
very little violence and not a touch of cruelty or ugly behaviour to be found."

AAP/dp/ps

KEYWORD: DUNDEE (CARRIED EARLIER)

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