Paperback Hero (1999): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1999, Paperback Hero is a comedy and romance film directed by Antony J. Bowman, running about 96 minutes. “He hard, tough...and doesn't give a XXXX for anything...except romantic novels” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. Jack Willis is a handsome roadtrain driver with a secret - he has just become a top-selling romance novelist. However, being a 'man's man' in the Australian outlook, to avoid embarrassment, he needs a name, a woman's name - and he chooses that of his best friend, Ruby Vale. He must do some fancy footwork to continue the charade when the glamorous city publisher, Ziggy, arrives in dusty outback Lucktown to sign 'Ruby Vale' to a major book deal. Ruby agrees to help Jack though it's for her own gain as well - the publisher will pay for her coming wedding (with Hamish, Jack's buddy). Accompanied by Jack, Ruby goes to Sydney to meet the media, appear on TV and cocktail parties, etc. Gradually, Jack realizes that he has fallen in love with Ruby, while Ruby is also touched by Jack's novel. However, Hamish arrives in Sydney a few days later and asks both of them to stop all these foolish things

Who’s in it. Paperback Hero stars Hugh Jackman as Jack Willis, Claudia Karvan as Ruby Vale, Angie Milliken as Ziggy Keane and Andrew S. Gilbert as Hamish, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.6/10, Paperback Hero has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response. It went on to earn $1.4M at the box office.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Prime Video with Ads and rent or buy it from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies and YouTube. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Paperback Hero page.

If you liked it. Fans of Paperback Hero tend to enjoy Forrest Gump, Parasite, Life Is Beautiful and Fight Club.