Crocodile Dundee is the story of a famous crocodile hunter (Australian, of course) who gets invited back to New York. It’s essentially a culture clash comedy with a touch of romantic comedy about it and works rather well due to the engaging cast, in particular Paul Hogan as Mick Dundee, the hunter of crocs. Mick will, of course, find that the suburban jungle of New York poses challenges that in some ways will be even more challenging for him than anything he could find in the Outback.

The opening section of the film is set in Australia, with newly arrived reported Sue Carlton (Linda Kozlowski) invited to the bar where he can normally be found. The men there are a pretty rough lot – a bruiser named Donk is balancing a pint of lager (XXXX I expect!) on his head and challenging anyone to hit him hard enough in the stomach to spill any. The first time we see Mick is when he comes in, takes up the challenge… and finds a very unusual way of getting Donk to spill some drink. His “no worries” attitude immediately attracts Sue but she does, of course, have her own boyfriend / fiancé. He is, of course, rather horrible, but that’s probably the only real cliché of the screenplay (which was nominated for an Oscar – Woody Allen’s “Hannah and Her Sisters” won it that year). It basically works because Dundee is such an affable character and doesn’t seem to worry about anything, even when a knife is pulled on him in a subway (which leads to one of the funniest moments in the film). Kozlowski’s performance is measured and she’s a character you can sympathise with well enough. She’s also quite cute, which always helps with the kind of role she plays in this film – certainly Paul Hogan thought she was cute since he ended up marrying her! Of the other performances, John Meillon as Walter (“Wally”) Reilly, the mild-mannered Australian who effectively acts as the public relations for the outpost where Carlton first finds Mick, gives a wonderful performance (albeit he’s a little underused). David Gulpilil (Walkabout, Rabbit Proof Fence) as Neville Bell, the Aborigine who is a lot more savvy about technology than anyone imagines, is also great in this film.

One or too of the scenes in New York seem a little too contrived, but they are designed to show the contrast between life in the big city and life in the Outback. The culture clash element of the film I handled quite well and results in quite a few laughs. Mind you, Mick is not completely alien to technology – one of the other funniest bits in the film is early on when Sue asks him what the time is; he sneaks a look at Wally’s watch, then looks up at the position of the sun and says, “about ten to twelve”.

Much of the humour comes from visual or situational comedy, though the dialogue’s not bad either. It’s very nicely filmed, showing off both the wildlife in Australia or the street life in New York very well. Peter Best provides a nice music score with plenty of didgeridoo playing. (He also provided the scores for Picture Show Man and Muriel’s Wedding.) The film is nicely paced, with a decent amount of action / drama thrown in with the humour, though it never really peaks. It is based on a man who takes life at his own pace, and the film follows that. This results in a very enjoyable comedy that will leave you with a smile on your face, but not one of the best comedies ever made. I’m sure you’ll like it unless for some reason you don’t like Paul Hogan (since so much of the film rests entirely on his performance).


Other Information

Director: Peter Faiman
Year of release: 1986 – good grief I was nine years old when this came out!!
Runtime: 98 minutes
Rating: 15 (UK) PG-13(USA) - this information came from IMDB, I have to say that I really don’t remember it being a 15 rating over here. Certainly I don’t remember there being much in the way of offensive content in it, a couple of swear words (not the F word). However a quick check on Amazon reveals that it is indeed a 15, I just can’t think why!

Paul Hogan came up with the story and co-wrote the screenplay with John Cornell and Ken Shadie


Quotes

Sue Charlton: That croc was going to eat me alive.
Mick Dundee: Oh, I wouldn't hold that against him. Same thought crossed my mind once or twice.

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Aborigine humour…

Neville Bell: Oh no, you can't take my photograph.
Sue Charlton: Oh, I'm sorry, you believe it will take your spirit away?
Neville Bell: No, you got lens-cap on.

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Richard Mason: New York City, Mr. Dundee. Home to seven million people.
Michael J. "Crocodile" Dundee: That's incredible. Imagine seven million people all wanting to live together. Yeah, New York must be the friendliest place on earth.


See also:

Top Ten Comedies
Top Ten Romantic Comedies


Recommended: Yes