Anyone who's seen the 1969, Brigham Young University-produced short film "Johnny Lingo" may remember that there was barely enough material for 25 minutes. The thought of a feature film version really seems like a stretch.
So it's not that surprising that "stretch" is a good way to describe "The Legend of Johnny Lingo," a family-friendly comedy that tries to expand and expound upon the locally known tale.
The resulting film is so poorly constructed that at times it feels like a series of barely connected skits, only some of which work. At other times, it feels like a 90-minute informercial for a certain Tahitian juice product.
As with the previous version, this one is based on the short story "Johnny Lingo's Eight-Cow Wife" by the late author Patricia McGerr. The film attempts to tell the back story of the latest man to bear the name Johnny Lingo.
Though it's not apparent at first, that would be Tama (Tausani Simei-Barton), a boy who washes up on the shore of a South Sea island. Though at first it's believed that he's destined for big things, the mischievous boy finds himself being bounced from family to family.
In fact, the only real connection he makes is with Mahana (Fokikori Soakimi), the supposedly homely daughter of the village drunk. But when Tama gets old enough to leave the island, he heads out on a one-man craft and doesn't look back.
When he washes up on a yet another island shore, he's lucky enough to meet legendary trader Johnny Lingo (George Hanare). While others continue to scoff at the boy, Johnny sees something in him — even after Tama steals from his treasury.
The kind-hearted man plans to have the boy succeed him as the next Johnny Lingo (it's more of a title than an actual name, you see). But in his heart, the now-teenage Tama (Joe Falou) longs to find Mahana, the only person who's ever really understood or cared about him.
In attempting to expand the story, director Steven Ramirez and screenwriter Riwia Brown have, unfortunately, come up with some pretty tiresome shtick and pointless story digressions.
The young performers here are attractive enough, but they do have a hard time delivering convincing performances. Simei-Barton is particularly stiff and never really makes the selfish Tama sympathetic.
Veteran New Zealand actor Hanare is the film's strongest asset — aside from the scenic Kiwi and Cook Island locations. However, Rawiri Parantene is wasted in a go-nowhere role (he's put to better use in the considerably more winning "Whale Rider").
"The Legend of Johnny Lingo" is rated G, though it does contain some mild vulgarity and some slapstick violence. Running time: 90 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com