Titled after the actual outback Victorian town where the story takes place, this Australian comedy circles around a British reporter who gets more than he bargained for when sent to Dimboola to write an article on small town life. His visits coincides with a couple of young locals getting married and between a hen's night (that he manages to attend by dressing in drag), a buck's party (where the groom gets it on with a stripper) and the wedding itself, the reporter finds a lot to write about as things hardly go smoothly or to plan. The film frequently feels like it is bursting with energy as all concerned really get into their characters. The humour is, however, very much of the hit-and-miss variety with pratfalls, drunkenness and the whole drag act worth little more than a roll of the eyes. There are, however, some greater subtler comedic moments too, such a reverend who cannot help but look when a teenager at the wedding reception lifts her dress up revealingly high to tap out a dance. The film's best gag though never feels like it is used for all it is worth as the groom's parents begin to suspect that he might actually be blood related to the bride. It is curious to learn that the play upon which the film was based never featured the reporter character in the first place as he is actually quite pivotal to the storyline here. Whereas without him, 'Dimboola' would just be a film about a kooky outskirts town, with him, it is about the townsfolk being unable to adopt the guise of "normal... dead normal" town and the reporter coming to still like the town and its denizens all the same.
