Les Patterson Saves the World

Sir Leslie Patterson, KBE - Australia's putrescent Cultural Attaché, the man who made the meat pie a fashion accessory - is one of the great comic creations of the last decade. Better, though, to chew one's foot off than spend more than ten minutes in the bugger's company, especially by way of this grotesquely charmless film, entirely devoid of mirth, wit or style. The plot is a shotgun wedding of the Carry On Follow That Camel with those ropey James Coburn spy comedies from the '60s: bad enough, but worse when the deadly virus threatening the world is a dead ringer for AIDS. Worse yet, the director is not George (Mad Max) Miller but a namesake who should be occluding dental cavities in Moonee Ponds.