New from The Movie Snob:

Danny Deckchair (C-). Just as aficionados of Gilligan’s Island can endlessly debate the relative charms of Ginger and Maryanne, so too may Lord of the Rings fans spar over the comparative merits of Arwen Evenstar (Liv Tyler) and Eowyn of Rohan (Miranda Otto). Okay, so Liv Tyler probably wins her race by an even bigger margin than Maryanne does hers. Still, I was pretty impressed by Miranda Otto too, especially the way she skewered the Witch King in The Return of the King.

Which is mainly why I went to see this Australian import, because I noticed that Otto is in it. The review I saw in advance was not glowing, with good reason. This is a trifling romantic comedy with too many clunker scenes and an ending stretch that seems to last forever. The title character is an amiable working-class stiff in Sydney who, through a humorous misadventure, winds up stranded in the little town of Clarence, far, far away from his job, friends, and mean live-in girlfriend. Out among the sturdy small-town folk, he’s able to start over, reconnect with what’s really important in life, and (of course) meet a much nicer girl (played by Otto). Wasn’t this movie called Doc Hollywood when it was made here in the States several years ago? And without quite so many scenes that fell flat? Oh well, it was a harmless enough way to spend 90 minutes. For a much better light-hearted Australian movie, look up The Dish, starring Sam Neill, from a few years ago.

But I’m still not sure Aragorn made the right call.