If converting an Oscar-winning film back into a play made financial sense for theatres, to then beam the play back into cinemas looks like a clear case of pop culture ravenously pursuing its own tail. In fairness, this record of last year's staging at Melbourne's Comedy theatre has brisk timing and, in Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones, two hefty stage presences behind it. Yet the material remains benignly undramatic – pootling past real prejudice, lest it spook the coachtrippers – and any purpose, beyond pumping dormant screens for extra revenue, has been left at the roadside: at least the movie framed some nice scenery through its rear windscreen.