BUCKLEY'S CHANCE

'Buckley's Chance' sees Ridley (Milan Burch) travelling back to Australia with his mum (Victoria Hill, 'First Reformed', TV's 'Dance Academy') from the United States after the death of his father to reconnect with his grandfather Spencer (Nighy, 'Emma.', 'About Time'). Ridley has been kicked out of many schools and need to be put back in line. This causes a lot of fighting between him and his grandfather, and Ridley runs away. Now lost in Australian Outback, he saves and befriends a dingo, Buckley, and the two try to find their way back home.

This is such a nothing film. It tricks you into thinking it's a dog flick, but the dingo is barely around. It's just a boring family drama with dumb villains added in to beef up the plot. The villains want to buy the grandfather's farm because it has oil, which leads to a lot of dead ends. While the movie would have felt thinner without them, it would have streamlined the film's focus if it was focused on the family. Nighy is here just as a name and is so sleepwalking through it, which isn't saying much for him these past couple of years. It's also apparent just how miscast the British actor is; he doesn't work as an Outback Aussie farmer. The rest of the cast is bland; it's exactly the film you'd think it is by looking at the poster.

It's a filler movie these winter school holidays that will bore the kids and oldies alike - it's another Australian film taking place in the Outback and doing nothing new. It's not rage-inducingly bad, it's just nothing we haven't seen before and doesn't try to hold your attention in any way.