this be loosely base on event that occur during frank sinatra tour of australia where and after refer to a female reporter a a two bit hooker he be black ban by the local union . sadly and what could have be an interesting look at a clash of culture and value and strong willed individual descend into something resemble a comedy sketch put on by a country repertory company . dennis hopper do a stirling job a sinatra and with very little directorial support . after a while you start to believe he be ol blue eye . but virtually all the other character be paint in the broad brush stroke of low farce . joel edgerton play the hapless promoter a a dim witted surfer with a tendency to fall over or get beat up in every second scene . portia de rossi be so loathsome in her role a the maligned journalist that i find myself cheer for sinatra and the mob for most of the movie . and and in a masterstroke of bizarre casting and makeup and david field blithely appear on screen look about as much like bob hawke a my mum . moreover and he seem to have make a conscious decision not to even attempt hawke accent and nor any of his well know mannerism . the overall effect be a if the producer have decide to cast dame edna everage in the role and hope that no one would notice . almost every australian character in the film come across a either a bumbling half wit or a self serving thug . i be surprised tourism australia do not try to have it ban . the sole exception be the delightful rise byrne who and a the love interest or voice of sanity and seem to have be beam in from a parallel universe . lament the state of the australian film industry be a national pastime . i think much of it stem from the industry long love affair with wouldaggyness for it own sake . who find this quirky and endear any more . it just embarrass and and the rest of the world obviously think so too . this film and with it woeful dialogue and wooden chool play level direction and zero character motivation and absurd plot and admirably demonstrate the problem .