The plot of this mess veers from lame comedy to idiotic drama trying for pathos. The basic plot is that a bunch of veterans from the Vietnam era are locked up in an Australian institution where they are medicated against their will, locked into their rooms, and roughed up by staff. The head of the institution is the daughter of a guard who was blamed for their escape from a war prison camp 50 years earlier. Oh please!
So the plot has the vindictive doctor mishandling senior citizens who only want to live out their days without being prisoners. Why they are prisoners is anyone's guess. The old "it's for your own good" is thrown in but it makes no sense. Apparently Australia has no laws that prevent the torture of patients in veterans' hospitals.
Into this mess comes the 50-year-old "love Story" between the American (James Cromwell) and the Australian woman (Jacki Weaver) who were parted all those decades ago. Now she has dementia, but he's determined to complete his romance by marrying her. But she's in a different institution, hence the several attempts to break out.
On the few occasions when the guys actually get out, they are chased and caught by the doctor and her goons. Apparently they have nothing else to do and don't bother calling the cops. Even when the cops are called to help round them up, this never gets any press attention. Their whole story takes place in a vacuum.
Each of the vets has a mission. Cromwell wants to marry Weaver. The wheel-chair bound vet (Roy Billing) wants a reunion with his estranged son. The dementia vet (Jack Thompson) wants to be remembered for his glory days as a soccer star. The dying vet (Dennis Waterman) wants to literally sail off into the sunset. Blah, blah, blah.
The actors try hard but this is a mess thanks to the writers and the director. The screaming and trite music blasts from the 60s and 70s doesn't help any.
So the plot has the vindictive doctor mishandling senior citizens who only want to live out their days without being prisoners. Why they are prisoners is anyone's guess. The old "it's for your own good" is thrown in but it makes no sense. Apparently Australia has no laws that prevent the torture of patients in veterans' hospitals.
Into this mess comes the 50-year-old "love Story" between the American (James Cromwell) and the Australian woman (Jacki Weaver) who were parted all those decades ago. Now she has dementia, but he's determined to complete his romance by marrying her. But she's in a different institution, hence the several attempts to break out.
On the few occasions when the guys actually get out, they are chased and caught by the doctor and her goons. Apparently they have nothing else to do and don't bother calling the cops. Even when the cops are called to help round them up, this never gets any press attention. Their whole story takes place in a vacuum.
Each of the vets has a mission. Cromwell wants to marry Weaver. The wheel-chair bound vet (Roy Billing) wants a reunion with his estranged son. The dementia vet (Jack Thompson) wants to be remembered for his glory days as a soccer star. The dying vet (Dennis Waterman) wants to literally sail off into the sunset. Blah, blah, blah.
The actors try hard but this is a mess thanks to the writers and the director. The screaming and trite music blasts from the 60s and 70s doesn't help any.