Date: March 4, 2000
Cast:Harold Anderson - Garry Shandling
Susan Hart - Annette
Bening
Roland Jones - John Goodman
Perry Gordon - Greg
Kinnear
Graydon - Ben Kingsley
Helen Gordon - Linda Fiorentino
Director: Mike Nichols
I try not to go into movies with preconceived notions, or ideas. However sometimes, it is just unavoidable. I try to share these with you, when they are relevant to my ultimate opinion of a movie after I have seen it. When I saw the previews for What Planet Are You From?, several things went through my mind. First off, it looked completely and totally cornball. I mean, an alien, coming to earth, to impregnate an earth woman and help his testosterone infested planet take over the world. Sounds enticing doesn’t it, yeah, I didn’t think so either. Then I saw the cast, some positives and negatives here:
Shandling (negative, although funny, I doubted his big
screen transition ability)
Goodman (positive, I like him for the most part, save Big
Lebowski),
Bening (so-so, sometimes she’s wonderful, sometimes
she’s annoying)
Kinnear (positive, and usually a joy to watch).
So at this point, I’m kind of so-so about seeing it. Then, I find out it’s written by Shandling, a potential positive, because I loved what I saw of the Larry Sanders show, but a possible negative for the same reason listed for him above. Finally, I saw that it’s directed by Mike Nichols, he of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Graduate, Working Girl, Birdcage, etc., so I made the assumption that someone who made those movies could not possibly make something as inane and stupid as this one looks, could he? That, dear reader, is the question I am here to answer.
It all boils down to the fact that this is a movie with a serious identity crisis. On the one obvious hand, it does try to be a light-hearted alien-sex comedy. It comes complete with sight gags (the humming joke wears thin very quickly, once is funny, twice is smirkable, 25 times is outright illegal) fish out water jokes, and even a spoof on conspiracy nuts. However, on the other side, it tries to be a philosophical, in-depth look into the stereotypical insensitive, sex-driven male, making some serious insights into why men act the way the do, and the effects that it has on others around him. Basically, Sex in The 90s, meets X-Files, with a dash of Starman, and Spaceballs thrown in. A recipe that does not taste good when it’s all mixed together and served up.
However, the dish could’ve possibly been salvaged, if the performances were consistent and entertaining. In a successful spoof, the actors are relaxed, having fun, and never take anything around them very seriously. The only one having constantly having fun here is Goodman, as an obsessed airline inspector who is determined to prove the existence of alien life. It doesn’t make up for the Big Lebowski, but it does show the talent that he displayed both on Roseanne, and in Raising Arizona. Also Kinnear seems to be reveling in his role as a smarmy banker, who will do and say anything in order to gain fulfillment of his needs. He has shown that his transition from TV to movies is real, and serious, but that he also hasn’t lost his edge. All of that being said, the disappointments far outweighed the joys. Leading the pack is Shandling, who I just cannot take seriously. He just has that look about him, as if he’s laughing, or smirking inside, even when trying to deliver in the movies emotional serious moments. Since your tongue is planted in your cheek always, keep to that kind of humor Garry. Also disappointing was Bening, although there is a jibe, intentional or not, at American Beauty. She just looks out of place and uncomfortable throughout (although I can imagine sex with Shandling wouldn’t really float any ones boat). One particularly uncomfortable scene involves her singing "High Hopes", I cringed, hung my head, and felt her pain. Finally, Fiorentino, whom I usually love, seems only to exist as the setup and delivery of one "crucial" plot point, and nothing else. She is always a joy to watch, but see The Last Seduction for what she can truly do, and give her something worthy.
Ultimately, What Planet Are You From, boils down to a movie that never really finds out what it wants to be, and wastes my time trying. There were two storylines, each of which would have individually made a potentially entertaining movie. Instead of focusing on one though it gets lost and confused in both, sometimes it makes you chuckle, or smile, others it makes some strong serious points about sexual perception, and relationships in the 90s, but it never really entertains on either level. I laughed a few times, but never deep belly laughs, I smiled in relation, or at the insights made, but in the next moment, I was appalled at what I was watching. In the search for intelligent life, none can be found in the making of this film. Seek help elsewhere, the truth is out there, but I really hope this isn’t it. ($1/2 out of $$$$)
Agree? Disagree, Questions? Comments?
