Director
Russell Mulcahy
(HIGHLANDER, PRAYERS FOR BOBBY, RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION)

Stars
Thomas Cocquerel, Corey Large, William Moseley, Clive Standen, David Wenham and Isabel Lucas

After enduring IN LIKE FLYNN, all that becomes apparent by the end of this sun-blessed fizzer is its motivation for production. A staggering budget of $10-$12 million U.S.D has been wasted, excuse me, allocated to this Australian-made movie that depicts a specific fraction of Aussie-born Errol Flynn’s life before he became a Hollywood celebrity. That period of time in Flynn’s existence ostensibly sounded like a golden opportunity to use as a basis for a rather camp and completely cheesy action adventure picture.

Based on Errol Flynn’s novel of the same name, IN LIKE FLYNN begins with Errol (played by Thomas Cocquerel from TABLE 19 and RED DOG: TRUE BLUE) working as a location scout for a Hollywood producer (a brief appearance by Dan Fogler) in Papua New Guinea. It’s an opening that exhibits the worst (the acting) and the best (the action sequences) of what IN LIKE FLYNN will have to offer. During his time in Papua New Guinea, Errol was given a map and once back home in Sydney, Australia, has reason to believe that map will lead him to a fortune in gold. There, he convinces a Canadian named Rex (Corey Large) and an Englishman named Dook (William Moseley) to accompany him on the journey along the waters of Australia’s east coast.

It wasn’t even possible to waste the time of a person who is no longer alive, until now!  The question to be asking is how. How has so much funding (for an Aussie production) been handed over to this project? And how on Earth did all of this bare-chested badness earn a pass mark to bypass all personnel involved in its making and distribution?

The fact that this faux pas of a movie is cheesy, to an off-putting degree, isn’t the crux of the problem. The unconvincing and poor execution of its chosen demeanour, which rarely manages to make the intentional distinct from the just plain bad, is the real conundrum here. Uneven directing that tries to counter-balance an array of abruptly forced moods and a screenplay that carelessly throws the protagonists from one random skirmish to the next do further damage. All throughout, both the dialogue and the acting performances are mostly woeful. In fact, IN LIKE FLYNN could have been a totally forgettable movie if it weren’t for acting that resembles first-time high school pantomime rehearsals. Having said that, the tall and handsome Thomas Cocquerel does try hard and will fare better in future roles to come while David Wenham does offer viewers some temporary, but mild relief. The only other kinder words I have to offer go out to the action choreograph and scenes. This component of IN LIKE FLYNN is bloody and sometimes bloody impressive. However, none of this film’s slightly better offerings have anything at all to do with Errol Flynn!

You do not want to be in with IN LIKE FLYNN!

1 ½ stars 

Viewer Discretion
MA15+ (Strong violence)

Trailer
IN LIKE FLYNN

Moviedoc thanks Umbrella Entertainment and Annette Smith for the opportunity to the watch and review this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc
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