Charlie (Jerry O’Connell) an uptight hairdresser, and Louis (Anthony Anderson) his zany best friend, are sent by Charlie’s mob-boss stepfather (Christopher Walken) to deliver $50,000 to an associate in Australia. When Louis places his “lucky” jacket on an injured kangaroo for a photo-op at the onset of their journey, the animal makes off with the garment, and, consequently, the cash-filled envelope stuffed inside it. Plenty of predictable hijinx – involving tranquelizer darts, drunken bushmen and all sorts of marsupial mayhem – follow as they pursue the kangaroo across the Australian outback. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the king of adrenalized entertainment, has reworked the standard buddy flick into an energetic comedy for the pre-teen set, full of rowdy action and grossout humor. But, despite the cuddly kangaroo, with contract killers and lots of sensuality in the mix, you might want to leave the youngest joeys at home.

Grade: B

Kinsey Scale: 2 (In keeping with Bruckheimer’s testosterone-fueled reputation, there’s lots of gay jokes here, many of them in reference to Charlie’s occupation, a few of them actually funny. A hitman calls the friends “pansies.” O’Connell had a gay pal in Tomcats, and Anderson appeared in the Martin Lawrence drag comedy Big Momma’s House.)

(Appeared in Q Syndicate)