Kangaroo Jack * (2003, Jerry O’Connell, Anthony Anderson, Christopher Walken) – Bad Movie 7

Director David McNally’s 2003 comedy for producer Jerry Bruckheimer is bad.

In a lull in his brilliant career, Christopher Walken plays a Mob boss called Salvatore ‘Sal’ Maggio, who despatches his New York hairstylist stepson Jerry O’Connell and his nutty, knockabout would-be musician pal Anthony Anderson to Australia. They are to make a delivery of $50,000 to a crook but it all goes wrong when a wild kangaroo hops off with the loot. They are then forced to chase the beast through the Outback.

Wildlife gal Estella Warren tries to give the boys a hand in this fairly dismal, horribly obvious, lame and limping comedy that wastes a talented cast. Although, to be fair, the genial cast does its utmost to raise some simple laughs and it does at least have a good heart – well, at least, maybe.

Writers Steve Bing and Scott Rosenberg are probably the ones to blame.

The expensive ($60million) film survived terrible reviews to be a surprise box office success, and an animated sequel, Kangaroo Jack: G’Day U.S.A.!, was released direct-to-video on November 16 2004. Kangaroo Jack is live action apart from the computer animated kangaroos in the special visual effects by The Secret Lab.

Anderson and Walken were both nominated for Worst Supporting Actor at the 2004 Golden Raspberry Awards but they lost to Sylvester Stallone for Spy Kids 3D: Game Over. The Australian newspaper The Age included Kangaroo Jack on its list of worst films ever made.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Bad Movie 7

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