In Like Flynn
In Like Flynn (Russel Mulcahy, 2018) wr. Errol Flynn (novel) Corey Large, Steve Albert, Luke Flynn [grandson], Alexander Djamirze; dp Peter Holland; Thomas Cocquerel, Corey Large, William Moseley, Clive Standen, Callan Mulvey, Isabel Lucas, David Wenham, Dan Fogler; biopic
Synopsis: Before Errol Flynn became one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood, he was braving cannibals and crocodiles while searching the jungles of Papua New Guinea for gold. After stealing the Sirocco, a yacht belonging to Chinese opium smugglers, Flynn and his ragtag crew set sail on a journey to find adventure and fortune.
Mulcahy is ... working with the mantra of 'good, old-fashioned entertainment' for In Like Flynn, coming up with a kind of Hergé-from-down-under. There are limitations to this sort of approach, particularly if you’re not in on the joke or are expecting the kind of ultra-lavish sets associated with large-scale Hollywood productions. But this is a fun film constructed in a smart way: an anti-high art picture that happily prioritises embellishing legend over recreating life. Luke Buckmaster, Guardian.
... Umbrella Entertainment’s Errol Flynn biopic In Like Flynn flopped.
Directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Thomas Cocquerel as the Tasmanian-born Flynn alongside Corey Large, William Moseley, Clive Standen, Callan Mulvey, Isabel Lucas and David Wenham, the action-adventure took just $22,000 from limited sessions on 69 screens and $38,000 including previews
The MA15+ rating caused by the violent opening sequence in Papua New Guinea, which is at odds with the rollicking, boys-own tone of the rest of the film, and mostly dire reviews apart from one rave in The Guardian [see above] almost certainly deterred some moviegoers. Minimal publicity and advertising meant it had little visibility. Don Groves, IF (15 Oct 2018).
Garry Gillard | New: 15 August, 2018 | Now: 16 October, 2018