Sometimes it's good to watch a film that tells a simple story well, has characters who are all decent human beings, has actors who play those characters straightforwardly and sympathetically, and doesn't take itself too seriously. This is one of those films. Australia has only a small film industry by world standards, and it suffers from the fact that when anyone of real talent emerges, he or she is invariably whisked off to the dollars of Hollywood very rapidly, so that most of our best people, not only actors but directors and all the others who work to make a film, don't make films in Australia. It's therefore a welcome surprise when an Australian film turns out to be good. One very common problem is the lack of good screenplays: most of them have fundamental problems of structure, and nearly all of them have not been developed sufficiently. This one's a good one. The idea of a truck driver writing Mills and Boon romances is interesting in itself; the enlisting of a local girl to "front" for the real author is a predictable but acceptable nest step: and the romance that slowly but surely emerges out of the background to take over towards the end is also predictable but very nicely and gently done.The film didn't make much of a public stir when it was released, in fact I don't recall it in cinemas at all. It comes up every now and again on TV, and it's much underrated. It also deserves a much higher user rating than its current 6.1. Perhaps it's the lack of pretension itself that leads viewers to mark it down. If you're looking at IMDb wondering whether to bother with this film, then my suggestion is to bother. It won't change your world, but it will amuse you and leave you feeling happy.

A wonderful romantic comedy movie, full of satire and unresolved emotions. If you've ever spent a decent amount of time in the outback of Australia where the bull dust covers everything and the road trains take 5 blocks to park, then you'll understand the humour in this movie. If you've never even seen Australia then you'll probably have a hard time keeping up, and you may not find it humorous at all, as most of the humour is very outback Aussie (as opposed to city Aussie - there's a difference, ya know) - although British viewers may enjoy the humour as well.Hugh Jackman plays a believable (and gorgeous) truckie in Outback Oz somewhere out the back of Woop Woop. They're not to specific as to the exact whereabouts of the setting. Claudia Karvan as Ruby is a believable sheila who happens to fly planes, as well as own the name Hugh's character put on his book.If you really want to see what the Aussie Outback is like, make sure you take note of all the story background including the characters. The storyline isn't too realistic, but I've seen a lot of those road trains and bull dust (the red stuff flying everywhere). Lots of fun for Romantic Aussies :))))

Jack is a trucker in the Australian outback who makes regular stops in the outback café where Ruby Vale hangs out. Ruby is engaged to Jack's best mate. Things get complicated when a publisher comes to the outback café to see the author and Jack has to explain that he has written a romantic novel and used to name to hide his identity. With the publisher none the wiser the two set out for the city together to promote his novel through her. However the time together puts Ruby's engagement under threat.I watched this mostly because Hugh Jackman's new found status as a star brought it to my attention. The plot is quite good and has a reasonable amount of potential but the film doesn't really manage to do very much with it. It lacks a spark in the film as a whole to really get it going.Jackman is part of the spark and has a certain amount of charisma but he isn't enough to bring the film to life. No – it needed something more. The concealment of the truth in the first half is quite good but the romance and more serious tone in the second half is a lot heavier and doesn't totally work. Karvan is quite feisty and does well but her and Jackman don't have the necessary type of chemistry – they hit it off as a knockabout pair but not in the romantic sense.The film has a certain charm to it but it didn't really do anything for me other than pass the time. It's hard to define but it seemed lacking in some humour, some genuine romance and a relationship that I really wanted to get behind. Passable and has potential but lacking in a certain something.

A refreshing setting for an 'old' story that's entertaining and well done! The 'downunder' folks have done a fine job on this 'old' theme that makes it well worth watching. Inspite of the 'jaded' reviews of certain folks, after watching movies and thinking about them for nearly 60 years, I'd say that this is one well worth a 2nd or even third watch. Definitely worth your time, if you are inclined to have some romantic fibers still firing.