The Coca-Cola Kid

The Coca-Cola Kid follows Becker, an American marketing man sent to Australia to improve the performance of Coca-Cola's local operation. He prides himself on his company and his ability to solve problems, but he finds a valley where the drink has made almost no headway, because an elderly local manufacturer makes his own soft drinks from his own ingredients. Becker goes there in person and tries to persuade the stubborn producer to do business with him, while a romance develops with a woman connected to the valley.

The film was directed by Dušan Makavejev, his third feature in the chronological list of his work after I Miss Sonia Henie and Sweet Movie, from a screenplay by Frank Moorhouse. Eric Roberts plays Becker, with Greta Scacchi as Terri, Bill Kerr as T. George McDowell, Chris Haywood, Kris McQuade and Max Gillies among the cast of 41 credited performers. It runs 98 minutes and was released in July 1985.

The ratings place the film in modest territory. On IMDb it holds 5.9 out of 10 from around 3,800 votes, while on TMDB it has 5.4 from a much smaller sample of 63 votes. A critics' rating of 6.3 from 17 reviews sits a little above both audience figures, suggesting reviewers received it somewhat more warmly than general viewers did.