Bran Nue Dae

An infectiously joyful Australian Aboriginal musical.

Enjoyable and forgettable in equal measure, the lovably cheesy Australian movie Bran Nue Dae is a must for children bitten by the musical-revival fever, for all who heart American Idol, and for anyone who came of age in the late 1960s - and is willing to hear the beloved pop standards of their youth massacred for a new age.

Great? No. But Bran Nue Dae is great good fun.

The movie feels trapped in the 1980s and feels like a missed opportunity.

The bits of Aboriginal lore imparted along the way by Tadpole add flavoring to a sugar-coated romp that has the craft of a high school revue.

While well known to many Down-Under fans, Bran Nue Dae has too much comic kitsch for U.S. specialty film audiences.

As a drama this is rote, as a musical it's uninspired, and as a comedy it's adolescent; ultimately it's a mess, unsure what it wants to be.