A miscast Bill Nighy headlines Buckley’s Chance, a fantastical outback adventure that is equally silly and sweet, and definitely not made for Australians.

There are movies that are either Australian made or made in Australia. Buckley’s Chance is the latter posing as the former. Directed and co-written by Canadian filmmaker Tim Brown (Devil in the Dark), Buckley’s Chance succeeds as a sweet natured family adventure. It is also a film made for an international audience, with an “export mode” philosophy felt throughout.

Buckley’s Chance begins with New York adolescent Ridley (Milon Burch) and his mum Gloria (Victoria Hill) on a rocky airplane ride to outback Western Australia. Ridley had just lost his firefighter father and with nowhere to go, he and Gloria have agreed to live with their estranged grandfather Spencer on his sprawling sheep estate, Buckley’s Chance.

Playing the role of Spencer is Bill Nighy. It is indeed curious casting and his performance follows suit. With unconvincing Australian accent and lethargic approach to his role of a cantankerous sheep estate boss, Nighy seems more like he’s on holiday than on set. Even his clothing, pristine and unearthed by the harsh conditions of an outback cattle station, reeks of inauthenticity.

Fairing much better is the films adventure element, in which young Ridley finds himself lost in the outback, with only a dingo as company. Brown hits those familiar outback adventure tropes in this fish out of water tale and does a good job in keeping the audience engaged while doing so.

Even though his American accent is dodgy, Milan Burch delivers a solid performance as a young teen dealing with grief and resentment in an alien world that has no mercy on those arrogant to its brutal nature. His connection to a dingo who acts as protector and guide is especially sweet and should have been the sole focus of a film that unfortunately will be remembered for Nighy’s distracting and out of place presence.