I must admit that I actually enjoyed this movie. I enjoy romance stories, but they can be melodramatic at times. This one had enough "adventure and action" to keep it from being a total chick flick. I see that the film recommendation for this is "Crocodile Dundee II," and I can agree with that. Also, the pet kangaroo helped sell it to me :)
7 Reviews
Lovely, funny love story down under.
the918family25 April 2006
Warning: Spoilers
OK, this might seem a shallow love story by some, but it was just what I needed the first time I saw it. I've been hooked ever since and have been trying to find this film for YEARS! Twelve years of my life spent looking for a nutty, fun movie! WOW! I just hope to see it again so I can copy it, as I'm sure it'll never come out on anything, VHS or DVD. Now that I'm ready, I haven't seen it shown in years. In short, inheriting some land left by her missing father in Australia, our heroine procrastinates before making the trip to see her fortune. She ends up in a dumpy house/cave underground. Of course, there is a guy to rile her up, and intrigue when someone seems out to get her. Bits of the typical fish-out-of-water scenarios between her and the locals, but she overcomes. She ends up with the guy, who has a fortune himself. YEAH! As I will probably never get to Australia, it was a beautiful, abbreviated look at a gorgeous country, with a light love story to boot!
Star quality abound in this opposite attracts comedy.
mark.waltz18 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Even though she is known for playing one of the best bad girls on the prime time soaps, I've always enjoyed Donna Mills whether she be good or bad because she always manages to catch all the aspects of the character and show the vulnerabilities and strengths as well as the deficiencies. In this TV movie comedy, she's a Beverly Hills business woman undergoing struggles when her partner runs out on her with all of the cash and her husband leaves her for another woman. With nowhere else to turn, she heads to Australia with a deed she was given by her late father to an open mind and comes across the tough Andrew Clarke who is the Petrucchio to her Katherine, although she's only a shrew on occasion, often apologizing after having "a moment".
The outback toughens the big city girl right away as she takes on a kangaroo as a pet while inspiring the local women to get involved in physical fitness training. The romance with Clarke certainly isn't rushed, and in a memorable scene obviously influenced by Colbert and Gable in "It Happened One Night", Mills gets a reluctant ride with Clarke after in a fury, she throws her makeup bag in the middle of the street and he drives over it, crushing everything. This gives an indication that Mills wanted to make fun of her glamorous image, making me like her all the more, and as she learns about what life in the Australian outback is all about, her Beverly Hills pretentiousness starts to disappear and the real person underneath emerges. The fact that her character wants to make sure her investors are paid off shows that her character has integrity, and that's another plus.
Of course, this type of story has been making its way on the TV movie circuit since that genre was created in the late 1960's, and while this is not definitely up for any awards, Mills makes it a fun romp from the West Coast of the United States to the far south of the equator. Her character is very independent and free spirited, yet she is not someone too independent-minded or blatantly feminist that a typical macho outbacker like Clarke couldn't handle or enjoy being around. John Schneider has a smaller role, still as handsome as he was when he was one of the Dukes of Hazzard, and veteran Hollywood actress Nina Foch is a delight in her brief role as Mills' rather dotty socialite mother. I also love how Mills takes on her romantic rival for Clarke's affections, tearing her down only because she's been insulted in the first place. Her character takes absolutely no prisoners and comes out smelling like a rose, and she's truly a commanding lady deserving of respect as the most untypical of lady bosses.
The outback toughens the big city girl right away as she takes on a kangaroo as a pet while inspiring the local women to get involved in physical fitness training. The romance with Clarke certainly isn't rushed, and in a memorable scene obviously influenced by Colbert and Gable in "It Happened One Night", Mills gets a reluctant ride with Clarke after in a fury, she throws her makeup bag in the middle of the street and he drives over it, crushing everything. This gives an indication that Mills wanted to make fun of her glamorous image, making me like her all the more, and as she learns about what life in the Australian outback is all about, her Beverly Hills pretentiousness starts to disappear and the real person underneath emerges. The fact that her character wants to make sure her investors are paid off shows that her character has integrity, and that's another plus.
Of course, this type of story has been making its way on the TV movie circuit since that genre was created in the late 1960's, and while this is not definitely up for any awards, Mills makes it a fun romp from the West Coast of the United States to the far south of the equator. Her character is very independent and free spirited, yet she is not someone too independent-minded or blatantly feminist that a typical macho outbacker like Clarke couldn't handle or enjoy being around. John Schneider has a smaller role, still as handsome as he was when he was one of the Dukes of Hazzard, and veteran Hollywood actress Nina Foch is a delight in her brief role as Mills' rather dotty socialite mother. I also love how Mills takes on her romantic rival for Clarke's affections, tearing her down only because she's been insulted in the first place. Her character takes absolutely no prisoners and comes out smelling like a rose, and she's truly a commanding lady deserving of respect as the most untypical of lady bosses.
Donna MILLS in Australia
ZeddaZogenau30 October 2023
Thanks to her success as the cunning Abby in the PrimeTime soap UNDER THE CALIFORNIA SUN / KNOTS LANDING / COTE OUEST, Donna MILLS was a popular star of TV movies in the USA. A broadcaster like CBS could easily sell a film with her to Germany because she was very popular there too. That's how Donna MILLS was transported to the Australian outback as a snooty Beverly Hills chic. Remember: from 1986 onwards, the films about the Australian hillbilly CROCODILE DUNDEE also enjoyed worldwide success. A broadcaster like CBS didn't miss an opportunity like this and immediately conjured up a cheaper copycat product for its evening TV program. Australian TV actor Andrew CLARKE (born 1954) had to play the hillbilly, who fittingly also looked similar to MAGNUM star Tom SELLECK. In her role, Donna MILLS ends up in Australia because she inherits an inheritance and has to fight for her inheritance there. Of course, the cute hillbilly helps her, and the oh-so-snooty Californian gradually thaws out. The whole thing was staged with plenty of action and guaranteed an enjoyable evening of watching TV on the sofa. And Donna MILLS, born in 1940, only proved that she was indestructible in NOPE by Jordan PEELE.
Adventure, Comedy and Love
linda-overington128 April 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I saw this film about 14 years ago and we both loved it, luckily we had taped it onto video, but on leaving South Africa to return home to the UK we had it stolen among some of our possessions and I have tried ever since to find this wonderful film but with no luck, If anyone can help me find a copy I would be very grateful. Donna Mills and Andrew Clarke are two superb actors and the chemistry between them was brilliant and it made this film a lovely funny adventurous piece of entertainment. I love the Aussie sense of humour, in a nutshell it was brilliant. Please let me know someone where I can get a copy. To me this is 5 star entertainment for the whole family
package delivery on what date and time
teresahillis28 November 2020
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