film Home > Movie Reviews

Don't be fooled by this dumbed-Down Under dud's misleading ad campaign: Its titular marsupial is merely a small, supporting presence and can't really talk; all that goofy rapping and dancing in the trailers comes from a short fantasy sequence. Actually, this latest Jerry Bruckheimer emission is a twisted and irresponsible so-called kids' film with leering sex gags and bursts of violence. Jerry O'Connell (Tomcats) and Anthony Anderson (Barbershop) play a pair of saps who get on the wrong side of the Mob and must deliver 50 grand to an Australian crook to make good. The cash gets stolen by a kangaroo; wacky hijinks ensue in obvious and predictable fashion. It's all very bad, but there is the train-wreck fascination of watching Anderson play the most uncomfortable black stereotype since . . . what was Cuba Gooding's last movie? This is one of those human-head-on-a-carrot Hollywood monstrosities that tries to hit several audiences at once and misses them all, offending most. With Christopher Walken in a paycheck role as a mob boss and Estella Warren as the least convincing wildlife conservationist ever.