Stars: Mick Molloy, Judith Lucy, Bill Hunter, John Clarke, Samuel Johnson, Frank Wilson. Rated M. Three stars

MICK Molloy, with a bit of time on his hands after his television show was cancelled might just have a minor hit on his hands with his ``Crackerjack'' project.

A laid-back Aussie movie in the style of ``The Road To Nhill'' and ``Dalkeith'' (but with a few more swear words), Molloy takes a very gentle dig at an unlikely subject _ the world of lawn bowls.

Jack Simpson (Molloy) is a bit of a shyster who joins Cityside Bowling Club (played by the Melbourne Bowling Club) because of the parking privileges it brings close to his dead-end job at a nearby call centre. He also makes a bit on the side renting out his parking spaces.

The club, on the other hand, is not doing well. It has no money, dwindling membership and is on the end of a takeover attempt by pokies club boss, the dastardly Bernie Fowler, played with understated panache by John Clarke.

Fowler wants to use the prime inner city position to expand his pokies empire and there is a great scene when he is outlining his plans for redevelopment to Cityside (without mentioning the pokies plan of course).

``What's this room for?'' asks the Cityside president, played by Frank Wilson, as he pores over the diagram.

``Could be anything,'' says sneaky Fowler. ``Perhaps a convention centre...''

``It's got 172 power points,'' says the bemused president.

With his plan rejected, Fowler goes all out to see Cityside go under so he can get the site. Meanwhile, Cityside goes on a fundraising campaign to find the $7000-odd it needs to avoid bankruptcy.

When its team is short of players, the club calls on Jack Simpson, who they have never seen, telling him he must play in a rich tournament or forfeit his membership _ and consequently his prized parking spot.

The movie then follows a tried and true formula as the reluctant Jack turns up to play with all the usual buffoonery you would expect, then develops a grudging admiration for the old farts and forgets his own agenda in his bid to stop the takeover.

Molloy, with his permanent five o'clock shadow, hang-dog eyes and scruffy hairdo is no Shakespearian actor but he's perfect as the laconic Simpson.

He also has plenty to do as a producer, writer and actor in the movie.

Comedian Judith Lucy is well-cast as the ``Bugle's'' sarcastic bowls reporter and the veteran supporting actors, led by Wilson and Hunter, slide perfectly into the roles of the slightly bewildered club members desperate for a solution.

Samuel Johnson (``The Secret Life Of Us'') does a good job as Jack's steadfast second banana and room-mate.

Co-written by Molloy's brother Richard, watch for a couple of cameos from the old days, notably ``Sa-a-a-a-a-ale of the Century'' voiceover man Pete Smith and Molloy's old sidekick Tony Martin as a tournament commentator.

You don't have to be a bowler to enjoy this fun film.