Review: Hugh Jackman, World Vision overpower ‘Dukale’s Dream’

While “Wolverine’s Ethiopian Vacation” might have grabbed extra attention, the more alliterative “Dukale’s Dream” documents a meeting that proved life-changing for both Hugh Jackman and a poor coffee farmer during a 2009 trip to Addis Ababa on behalf of World Vision International Australia.

As World Vision ambassadors, Jackman and his wife, Deborra-lee Furness, made the trek to gauge the progress of a community development project that empowered rural farmers to become more self-sufficient.

Being the stand-up guy that he is, it isn’t long before Jackman rolls up his sleeves and starts shoveling manure alongside the affable, 27-year-old Dukale, who would prove to make such an impression on the Aussie star that he’d subsequently launch his own fair-trade coffee company back in New York City.

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But while Dukale’s Blend has proved to be a hot seller at Jackman’s nonprofit Laughing Man Coffee, the Josh Rothstein-directed vehicle, produced by the frequently name-checked World Vision, leaves a somewhat unpleasant aftertaste.

Considering that we’re not introduced to the titular Dukale until a good quarter-of-an-hour into a film that clocks in at a scant 69 minutes, the end product comes across as an agency fundraising tool rather than an organic documentary portrait.

It may be called “Dukale’s Dream,” but it’s ultimately Jackman’s journey.

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“Dukale’s Dream.”

MPAA rating: G.

Running time: 1 hour, 9 minutes.

Playing: At Crest Westwood.

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