Overview of Crocodile Dundee In Los Angeles w/ Eddie Pepitone & Matthew Berry (Classic)
This episode of How Did This Get Made? takes apart Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (often referred to as Crocodile Dundee 3), with hosts Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas joined by comedian Eddie Pepitone and special guest Matthew Berry, who co-wrote the film. The conversation mixes live movie commentary, criticism of the film’s flat structure and inconsistent character logic, and a behind-the-scenes look at how the sequel was actually developed.
Main Takeaways
The movie’s biggest problem: it’s all setup, little payoff
- The panel repeatedly notes how slow and meandering the film feels.
- They argue the movie seems to stretch thin material to fill runtime, especially in the early Australia scenes.
- Much of the humor depends on Paul Hogan’s character reacting to L.A., but the film often gives him no real emotional stakes, which makes the whole thing feel flat.
Crocodile Dundee’s character is inconsistent
- One of the main complaints is that Dundee’s intelligence and awareness seem to shift scene by scene.
- Sometimes he’s wise and competent; other times he’s absurdly clueless.
- The hosts point out that he can be oddly calm around dangerous animals, fail to warn others about threats, and then suddenly act violent or reactive when the script needs it.
The “L.A. fish out of water” premise is the whole movie
- The film largely functions as a tour of Los Angeles landmarks rather than a tightly plotted comedy.
- The hosts joke that the movie is basically Dundee walking around L.A. and running into stereotypes, celebrities, and set pieces.
- They found the “urban jungle” concept so thin that even obvious gags felt overexplained.
Behind the Scenes with Matthew Berry
How Matthew Berry got the job
- Berry explains that he and his writing partner were brought in after being told they’d pitch ideas for a new Crocodile Dundee installment.
- They were not expecting to get the assignment seriously and initially treated the meeting as a funny industry story in the making.
- Their pitch was intentionally simple: Dundee goes to Los Angeles, encounters bad guys, shows his kid around, and reacts to the city.
Paul Hogan wanted control
- Berry says Paul Hogan was deeply involved and wanted to co-write or reshape the script.
- Hogan rewrote much of their material, often by changing names and details while keeping the basic structure.
- Berry describes the process as frustrating because Hogan’s rewrites made the movie more obvious and less sharp.
Writing credit dispute
- A major part of the story is the arbitration battle over writing credit.
- Berry and his partner needed the credit for contractual and financial reasons.
- Hogan pushed for sole credit, leading to a public dispute and multiple arbitration rounds.
- Berry says they ultimately won the credit battle, but the experience was awkward and public.
The tone they were aiming for
- Berry explains they were trying to make a family-friendly, gentle comedy rather than an R-rated raunchfest.
- At the time, Hollywood was full of loud, edgy comedies, and they thought Dundee would work better as a sweet, approachable sequel.
- He also says Hogan liked the idea of a heroine being attracted to Dundee, which led to scenes the panel found bizarre and ego-driven.
Notable Scenes the Panel Discussed
The spider in the hat
- The hosts were baffled by a scene where Dundee notices a dangerous spider and hides it in his hat.
- They felt the scene implied odd guilt or weird secrecy, instead of a clear comic setup.
- Berry suggested it may have been a Paul Hogan improvisational idea rather than something designed by the writers.
The freeway skunk / “bomb scare” sequence
- The panel spent a lot of time on the scene where Dundee ends up on a freeway with a skunk, and police think there’s a bomb.
- They thought the escalation was absurd and that the cops’ reaction was over the top.
- They also noted the film doesn’t do enough to create actual suspense, so the scene plays as chaotic but strangely inert.
The art-heist subplot
- They were confused by the late-arriving plot involving stolen wartime artwork and movie production fraud.
- The hosts felt the subplot was underdeveloped and disconnected from Dundee’s story.
- Berry confirmed that the script had been built primarily as a loose vehicle for Dundee’s reactions, not as a tightly plotted heist film.
The rollerblader and other women hitting on Dundee
- A recurring joke in the episode is how many women seem inexplicably attracted to Dundee.
- Berry says that was partially intentional, but the finished movie makes it feel like pure ego fantasy.
- The rollerblader scene in particular stood out to the hosts as wildly out of place and overly self-congratulatory.
What the Episode Says About the Movie
The film works best as a “reaction machine”
- Berry argues that the original Crocodile Dundee formula works because Dundee is a personality reacting to a world around him.
- The panel agrees in principle, but says this sequel fails because it doesn’t give him enough believable reactions or structure.
- The jokes are sometimes decent in isolation, but the movie lacks a strong comedic engine.
Ego, credit, and the problem with legacy sequels
- The discussion becomes a larger story about Hollywood control, ego, and sequel-making.
- Berry portrays Hogan as wanting to preserve ownership and status more than making the best movie.
- The hosts see this as a classic example of a legacy sequel that exists because a star wants to be “the guy” again.
Funniest / Most Memorable Moments
- The hosts repeatedly mock the giant garbage pail used in a slapstick bit.
- They laugh at the idea that the movie has Sopranos and Breaking Bad actors but still feels lifeless.
- Eddie Pepitone’s reactions add a lot of energy, especially when he points out the movie’s strange pacing and animal-treatment implications.
- Matthew Berry’s stories about arbitration and Hogan’s rewrites are the episode’s biggest behind-the-scenes reveal.
Final Thoughts
This episode is as much about how a weird sequel gets assembled in Hollywood as it is about Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles itself. The movie is criticized for being limp, uneven, and driven by ego, but Berry’s interview adds valuable context: the film was conceived as a simple, family-friendly “Dundee in L.A.” concept, then heavily reshaped by Paul Hogan’s control over the franchise. The result, according to the panel, is a sequel that has a few funny beats but never fully clicks.
Related Plugged Material
- Matthew Berry’s book: Fantasy Life
- Eddie Pepitone’s documentary: The Bitter Buddha