Paperback Hero (1999)

Jack Willis is a handsome roadtrain driver with a secret - he has just become a top-selling romance novelist. However, being a 'man's man' in the Australian outlook, to avoid embarrassment,... See full summary »

Director:

Antony J. Bowman

Writer:

Antony J. Bowman (novel)

Stars:

Claudia Karvan, Hugh Jackman, Angie Milliken

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Claudia Karvan	...	Ruby Vale
Hugh Jackman	...	Jack Willis
Angie Milliken	...	Ziggy Keane
Andrew S. Gilbert	...	Hamish
Jeanie Drynan	...	Suzie
Bruce Venables	...	Artie
Barry Rugless	...	Mad Pete
Barry Lea	...	Policeman
Steven Colling	...	Cafe Drinker
Randel Ross	...	Auctioneer
Bill Watson	...	Mr. Reece
Scott Nugent	...	Bag Pipe Player
Brooke Fairley	...	Dancing Girl
Ross Marsden	...	Country Pub drinker
Charles Little	...	Errol (as Charlie Little)

Storyline

Jack Willis is a handsome roadtrain driver with a secret - he has just become a top-selling romance novelist. However, being a 'man's man' in the Australian outlook, to avoid embarrassment, he needs a name, a woman's name - and he chooses that of his best friend, Ruby Vale. He must do some fancy footwork to continue the charade when the glamorous city publisher, Ziggy, arrives in dusty outback Lucktown to sign 'Ruby Vale' to a major book deal. Ruby agrees to help Jack though it's for her own gain as well - the publisher will pay for her coming wedding (with Hamish, Jack's buddy). Accompanied by Jack, Ruby goes to Sydney to meet the media, appear on TV and cocktail parties, etc. Gradually, Jack realizes that he has fallen in love with Ruby, while Ruby is also touched by Jack's novel. However, Hamish arrives in Sydney a few days later and asks both of them to stop all these foolish things...

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Plot Keywords:

publisher | secret | romance novelist | love | novelist | 

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Taglines:

He's hard, tough ... and doesn't give a XXXX for anything ... except romantic novels

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 March 1999 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Paperisankari

Filming Locations:

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Polygram Filmed Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 93 min (Ontario)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nindigully pub, prominently featured in the film as the Boomerang café, is a real life pub, essentially a town in itself (population 6), located 45 km from the nearest town. It is the oldest hotel (pub) in Queensland, operating continuously since 1864.

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Goofs

During the opening credits, the road train is filmed from the air. A helicopter's shadow (presumably the helicopter doing the filming) can be seen briefly on the ground below.

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Connections

Featured in 60 Minutes: On Thin Ice/The Memory Pill/Love Her Way (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Suddenly"
Written and Performed by Soraya

User Reviews

The second viewing was even better!

Paperback Hero was repeated last night on TV and having watched it last night after seeing it at the cinema years ago when it was first released my wife and I found ourselves enjoying it even more than we did the first time around.

I found Bowman's direction to be particularly compatible with the script he had written: the way in which he composed the camera shots, the pace in which the film unrolled as well as the composition of each scene which left this viewer lingering over each segment rather than mindlessly being rushed through as so often happens with Hollywood fare.

Other commentators have written that they found Bowman's script ragged in spots and I'm sure this is a very valid comment but I was carried along to such an extent by the movie's visuals and by the totality of what was happening on the screen that I didn't notice whether or not the script was seamlessly unrolling.

If you haven't seen this film you owe it to yourself to do so-if you have seen it you owe it to yourself to see it again.