The Shrimp on the Barbie is a 1990 comedy film directed by Michael Gottlieb (under the pseudonym Alan Smithee) and starring Cheech Marin. In Australia, the film was released as The Boyfriend from Hell. The title is derived from a line in a 1980s series of popular ads starring Paul Hogan promoting tourism to Australia: "I'll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for you".
Plot
An Australian heiress, Alexandra Hobart (Emma Samms), hires a down-on-his luck waiter in a Mexican restaurant in Australia named Carlos (Cheech Marin), to masquerade as her new boyfriend after her father vetoes her burly, life-of-the-party fiance, Bruce (Vernon Wells). Carlos is a waiter working in a Mexican restaurant located in Sydney, Australia. After meeting Carlos after a disastrous birthday party for her father, Alex enters into a challenge with her father (Terence Cooper). He has disproved of every boyfriend she has brought home to meet him, and wanting to marry Bruce, Alex decides to challenge him with the worst boyfriend she can find to dissuade her father to allow her marry Bruce. Needing the money to save the failing restaurant, Carlos is hired by Alex to pose as the most worst boyfriend in the world. Acting loud, belligerent and obnoxious, he shocks everyone in the Hobart household and their high-society friends at a party with his crude behavior, warranting unwanted attention from Alex's eccentric cousin, Maggie (Jeanette Cronin) in the process. Alex's father, however, doesn't buy the act, and hires a detective to photograph Bruce in a very public display of attraction with Alex's best friend, Dominique (Carole Davis). Carlos gets wind of the infidelity as well and is beaten up by Bruce as a result to silence him. By now, unfortunately, Carlos wants out, dissolving their deal, and Alex becomes aware of Bruce being unfaithful, outing both him and Dominique at a party. Repentant, Alex races to the airport to mend fences with Carlos, whose plane is called back to the airport by her father. Realizing how far noble Carlos is over Bruce, Alex's father decides to invest in the restaurant and save it.
Principal Cast
- Cheech Marin ... Carlos Munoz
- Emma Samms ... Alexandra "Alex" Hobart
- Vernon Wells ... Bruce Woodley, Alex's boyfriend and fiance
- Bruce Spence ... Wayne, owner of the Manana Restaurant
- Carole Davis ... Dominique, Alex's best friend
- Terence Cooper ... Sir Ian Hobart, Alex's father
- Jeanette Cronin ... Maggie Ridley, Alex's cousin
- Gary McCormick ... Gary Williams, restaurant critic
- Frank Whitten ... Blue
- June Bishop ... Lady Irene Hobart, Alex's mother
- David Argue ... Kevin, Carlos's house mate
- Bruce Allpress ... Mr. Ridley, Maggie's father
- Val Lamond ... Mrs. Ridley
- Richard Hanna ... Nigel, Alex's tennis partner
- Noel Appleby ... Slim, Manana chef
- Eric Liddy ... Eddison, the Hobart's butler
- Kim Buchanan ... Eve Tracey
- Joel Tobeck ... Lance, bar patron
External links
- The Shrimp on the Barbie at the Internet Movie Database
- The Shrimp on the Barbie at AllMovie
