Sydney premiere with rain and pillows

George Street in Sydney was closed down last night amid rain, for the Sydney premiere of 'Australia'. Invited guests turned up with umbrellas before heading inside with their pillows to catch up on sleep, ahead of the 165 minute film.

Nicole did the obligatory "hello" to a few fans standing nearby, before rushing inside to avoid the rain ruining her make-up. Either that, or she wanted a front row seat closest to the Exit sign. Apparently Nicole had not seen the finished product as Baz had edited it up to the final hour. Nor did Nicole know which ending Baz used as he had filmed several versions. Hopefully they opted for the ending where the Botox delivery van blows up and Nicole is left wrinkled and pruned by the road side.

The Premiere 'after-party' was attended by many socialites, cast, crew and family members. Nicole and Keith are expected to fly straight back home today to Nashville once the hangover subsides. As mentioned yesterday, there have been mixed reviews so far for the film which cost nearly $130 million to make. Excerpts from some of these reviews are as follows:

"There is a lot of narrative flab and longueurs in the first two hours and the film often has the pace of a steamroller with engine trouble."

"Jackman is a natural in the saddle, but is too damn handsome to convince us of The Drover's rough-hewn origins. He scrubs up a little too easily."

"The film is not without flaws, it's not the masterpiece that we were hoping for, but I think you could say that it's a very good film in many ways. While it will be very popular with many people I think there's a slight air of disappointment after it all."

"With such a maelstrom of styles and tones, Kidman and Jackman struggle to make any impression. They attempt to act out a serious love story but cannot get any traction in this garish circus of wild-eyed caricatures of Australian bush life and so many half-baked ideas about the national character, including spontaneous outbursts of Waltzing Matilda."