The Coca-Cola Kid (1985)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Dusan Makavejev

Writers:

Frank Moorhouse (screenplay)
Denny Lawrence (additional dialogue)

Release Date:

14 July 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

A movie felt never so refreshing!

Plot:

An eccentric marketing guru visits a Coca-Cola subsidiary in Australia to try and increase market penetration...

Plot Keywords:

Coca Cola | Love | Australia | Fish Out Of Water | Irony

Awards:

8 nominations

Cast

Eric Roberts	...	Becker
Greta Scacchi	...	Terri
Bill Kerr	...	T. George McDowell
Chris Haywood	...	Kim
Kris McQuade	...	Juliana
Max Gillies	...	Frank Hunter
Tony Barry	...	Bushman
Paul Chubb	...	Fred
David Slingsby	...	Waiter
Tim Finn	...	Philip
Colleen Clifford	...	Mrs. Haversham
Rebecca Smart	...	DMZ
Esben Storm	...	Country Hotel Manager
Steve Dodd	...	Mr. Joe
Ian Gilmour	...	Marjorie

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:15 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Sweden:7 | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Australian Film Commission, The

Trivia:

This film was produced without the knowledge or consent of the international offices of the Coca-Cola Company. However, since both the company and its product were depicted so favorably in the film (as well as the film being free advertising), they took no legal action against the parties involved.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Terri is getting dressed, she has the pants pulled up and is starting to pull up the suspenders. The shot shifts and she is just pulling up the pants.

Quotes:

Terri: If we got sex out of the way, we could relax.

Movie Connections:

References Limonádový Joe aneb Konská opera (1964)

Soundtrack:

Waltzing Matilda

Offbeat And Flawed But Nothing Quite Like It

The Coca-Cola Kid is not a perfect movie but it is guaranteed to elicit a strong response from you, one way or the other. The promising premise of taking a Southwestern Coca Cola marketing guru to the Outback to sell the locals his universally beloved liquid nectar leads to an intriguing and entertaining culture clash. Less successful, but still whimsically charming, is the pairing of Greta Sacchi and Eric Roberts. While Sacchi and Roberts actually do have some chemistry once they get involved, one is still left wondering exactly what Sacchi sees in the rude and self-centered Roberts initially. The movie comes up with an out-of-left-field explanation which is both jarring and silly; it is one of several missteps in the third act. Another unhappy development is the violent response of the local distributor, which abruptly shifts the tone from oddball romantic comedy to dark drama. The movie goes out of its way to be offbeat, inserting non-sequiturs like the nutjob concierge seeking CIA employment and the homoerotic transvestite interlude. The entirely nonsensical epilogue announcement tops off these "quirky for quirky's sake" calculations and leaves the viewer rolling his eyes a bit.

Still, despite the warts above, The Coca-Cola Kid is a unique and mostly entertaining look at American Capitalism morphing into Imperialism overseas.

Roberts is up and down, but ultimately a decent choice as the charismatic and driven capitalist charged with conquering the Aussie Cola industry. Go in realizing this is more a satire than a social commentary and you'll likely come away refreshed, if not entirely quenched. 7.5 / 10