the leading man is my tpye

What makes it different from others?

Boring, long, and too preachy.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

What I liked,The fart scene at the beginning, and the headlines "Big Flareup at UN" or "Big Stink"The typical suburb which had kangaroos, emus and wombats and other wildlife wandering around the streets. Apparently a common misconception by touristsThe official embassy car was a stretched FJ Holden with the Australian Coat of Arms on the side.The OzCharge credit card which said: "Charge to: The Australian Taxpayer"Paul Jennings who impersonates the PM Bob Hawke was saying "aww cripes" when dealing with Sir Les Patterson and sends him to an obscure country

NOT "great art" by ANY means, but for belly laughs and a good time this is a movie worth picking up - Barry Humphries is hysterical anyway, and his Dame Edna character is just the icing on the cake.... politically incorrect? You betcha! Rude and sophomoric? Yes and yes again. Completely worth the time it takes to see it and (then) the bucks it costs to get a copy of your own for keeps? Absolutely! Australians have had Humphries in ALL his different guises to enjoy forever, but the Dame is the only one that got any serious exposure over here.... which I believe is fortuitous. This movie probably could've been made WITHOUT the scenes where folks covered in boils explode and all but dissolve, but then it'd just have been a "pleasure", and not a "guilty pleasure" (the very best kind). Omar Shariff did more than sit through it, he STARRED in it!

This is the rare merciful Australian comedy that doesn't star Paul Hogan or Yahoo Serious. Instead, it stars Barry Humphries, who was wonderful as Bert the game show host in the overlooked classic "Shock Treatment". This movie, however, is not a classic. As Australian comedies go, it's pretty embarrassing, and that's saying a lot (as anyone who's seen "Young Einstein" can attest).Humphries plays the titular character, a repugnant, leathery, big toothed, eternally horny drunkard who starts off the movie by farting, which causes a man standing behind him to burst into flames. Usually I'm a big fan of flaming flatulence humor, like The Eternal Flame character in "Freaked", but here it left me cold. Don't get me wrong, the director was obviously passionate about the material, but here it falls flat.Anyhoo, Patterson gets wrapped up in some obscure Middle Eastern plot to spread a virus by planting it on poisoned toilet seats. The virus causes it's victims to mutate into horrible, lumpy-faced monstrosities oozing puss.Speaking of which, it should be noted that Joan Rivers is in this movie. She is one of the most horrifying actresses in show business. From her pointy voice to her hateful fashion views to her plastic face, she frightens me more than an army of Freddy Kreugers. Thank goodness her film credits are small and after her creepy cameo at the end of "Look Who's Talking" the producers had the good sense to replace her with Roseanne in the sequel (actually, that's kind of a lateral move).Anyway, back to this movie. For some reason Dame Edna Everage (also played by Humphries) shows up, and compared to Rivers he/she's a Goddess. This movie has a lot of things going for it- exploding koalas, some animation, a character called Dr. Herpes- but unfortunately it's all tied into Patterson, a revolting character who at no time approached anything even remotely resembling likability. By the time you get to the finale at a revolving restaurant in which another man in drag shows up, you'll be longing for the quiet subtlety of "Reckless Kelly" (a movie I actually like- it's Yahoo Serious' "Laurence of Arabia).

The brilliant Australian comic genius Barry Humphries had a rare failure with this uneven, and occasionally distasteful comedy, which was snatched back from release after only a few days. Drunken, lecherous Australian diplomat Sir Les Patterson accidentally sets an Arab potentate on fire at the UN and is posted to his tiny country as punishment, arriving just as a palace coup puts a new leader (American soap star Thaao Penghlis) on the throne. Sir Les, with the reluctant help of Dame Edna Everage (Both played by Humphries) almost accidentally foils a scheme by the new leader to release a deadly, disgusting, AIDS-like virus on the Western World. Joan Rivers has a cameo as the female President of the United States, her desk plate reading "President Rivers"! Extreme bad taste mingles with slapstick and Humphries' usual scathing satire in a film which is more enjoyable in it's many funny parts, than taken together as a whole. Dame Edna's TV fans may be puzzled by the presence of a different Madge Allsop, sadly, one who lacks Emily Perry's wonderful drab comedy magic in the role. The film was written By Humphries & his third wife, Diane Millstead, and directed by the Mad Max man himself, George Miller. For die-hard Humphries fans like myself, essential. All others, beware.