FIRST LOOK: The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee

We missed Paul Hogan at the elderly age of 81 playing, well, himself in a meta movie of the Crocodile Dundee star back in July on Amazon Prime Video. How did we miss this? I would have watched it, just to see what he was up to these days.

I enjoyed Crocodile Dundee, particularly the love story with his wife Linda Kozlowski. Alas, Linda and Paul are divorced in 2014 according to Wikipedia. She is only 62 in 2020, where Hogan again, is roughly 20 years her senior.

So, what about this new Paul Hogan movie that isn’t on Amazon Prime any more and will be streaming on VOD this month — likely to be followed by a return to some streaming channel.

It’s directed by Dean Murphy, whose last project was another meta-comedy (2018’s That’s Not My Dog! in which Hogan also made one of his rare appearances), and he co-wrote the script with Robert Mond (The Subjects). The movie is also headlined by Chevy Chase, John Cleese, and Olivia Newton-John. Initially slated for release in theatres in April, that didn’t happen for obvious reasons, and instead it was released exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on July, however that exclusivity period is ending soon and it’ll be heading to on-demand services in December.

Paul Hogan stars in the meta-comedy The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee

Official trailer:

Again, wondering how I missed this in July on Amazon Prime Video. Did anybody reading see this back then? If not, we both will have a chance on VOD. Stating the obvious here, but Hogan looks really, really old in this film. Nothing wrong with old actors, especially if they do new, inventive roles, but there’s something youthful about the adventurous character Crocodile Dundee that old age just doesn’t fit. Hogan must have known that, so he’s only playing himself that once played Dundee. I see how someone thought that could work, given the right script.

The meta route for the subject matter might be funny, but I keep wanting to see him do Crocodile Dundee again and it seems that was a one and done thing for his career. Do you have any interest in seeing this movie?

The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee will be available on VOD for streaming December 11, 2020.