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Reporter Sue Charlton (Linda Kozlowski) heads to the Outback to track down the mythical Mick "Crocodile" Dundee (Paul Hogan), who purportedly survived a croc attack and crawled his way back to safety, only to quickly find out that the tales are tale in the land down under. However, the truth is a lot more wild than any legend. Soon, the two find themselves flirting with danger (and each other) and it is not long before Mick finds himself a fish out of water in Sue's home of New York. Hijinks ensue.
Love it or hate it, one thing cannot be denied about this 80's comedy and that it packs a wallop with its incredibly charming lead actor, Paul Hogan. The rough charisma practically oozes off the screen, quickly endearing him to the viewing audience. Not to suggest that the supporting cast are a bunch of slouches. On the contrary, Kozlowski comes off as a strong, assertive female lead while never losing any of her feminine appeal. Mick's motley crew of Aussie lads are a gas, and the panoply of colorful New York archetypes ensure that Hogan has a lot of fodder for one-liners.
One could criticize the movie by pointing out that it is basically a series of sketches loosely held together by a simple conceit but, really, that's what let's its star shine. The movie is at times a comedy, at others a romance, and even dabbles in a bit of action-adventure. It seems perfectly at ease with wallowing in quirky scenarios as it does with pleasantly meandering about it's two larger than life locations (the aforementioned New York and Australia). More importantly, it always feels like you could of sat through more of what you saw and it never outstays its welcome.
Modern audiences might wince at some of the dated social politics but even that is disarmed by Hogan/Dundee's easygoing charm. In short, it's easy to see how almost every character in this movie likes the ol' guy. Not an easy task to accomplish as a writer but it's pulled of quite well here. Crocodile Dundee is a movie that is very clearly of its time but its strong, eponymous lead has a timelessness to him that briskly sweeps it in to cult classic territory.
The movie was a fun time then and it remains one even now.
