The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee

Paul Hogan has been trying to retire for years, or at least that's what the version of himself he plays in 'The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee' keeps saying. It's an Australian comedy in which the star of 'Crocodile Dundee' sends up his own legend, in a style several critics likened to 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'. It was directed by Dean Murphy, who'd already worked with him on 'Strange Bedfellows' and 'Charlie & Boots' and wrote the script with Robert Mond.

Hogan lives a quiet life in Los Angeles with his son Chase (Jacob Elordi), his dog and video calls from his granddaughter Lucy back in Australia. Then his manager, Angie (Rachael Carpani), tells him the Queen wants to knight him for services to comedy. He couldn't care less about the title, but Lucy has already told everyone at her new school, so he goes along with it rather than let her down.

The catch is that he has to stay out of trouble for a few weeks, and he just can't. A walk in the Hollywood Hills ends with a snake flung into a woman's face, and at a meeting with executives who want to revive the franchise with Will Smith as his son, a fairly obvious reply gets him branded a racist by the tabloids. Every attempt to fix things only makes them worse, not least with a wannabe paparazzo (Nate Torrence) camped outside his house.

Nearly all the famous faces play themselves: Chevy Chase won't stop bragging about an Oscar he never won, John Cleese is a broke Uber driver, Wayne Knight moves in uninvited and Reginald VelJohnson reminds everyone he was in 'Die Hard'. It was also Olivia Newton-John's last film before her death in 2022, and there's room for Luke Hemsworth and Jim Jefferies too.

It was shot in Melbourne and Los Angeles in 2018 and was meant to open in Australian cinemas, but the pandemic sent it straight to Prime Video in July 2020. Lionsgate released it in the US that December. Critics were harsh, and Chevy Chase picked up a Razzie nomination for worst supporting actor.

• Comedy