Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000)

From: [email-masked] (Dustin Putman)
Date: 5 Mar 2000 20:10:15 GMT

What Planet Are You From?      * * * (out of * * * * )

Directed by Mike Nichols.
Cast: Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, John Goodman, Greg Kinnear, Ben 
Kingsley, Linda Fiorentino, Judy Greer, Caroline Aaron, Nora Dunn, Camryn 
Manheim, Ann Cusack, Janeane Garofalo.
2000 - 107 minutes
Rated R (for profanity, sex, nudity, and much sex-related humor).
Reviewed by Dustin Putman, March 4, 2000.

The premise of "What Planet Are You From?" is one of great convolution and 
foolishness, the type that, more often than not, would simply be written off 
as a dimwitted movie without any value or merit. Who could possibly take a 
film seriously in which an alien (Garry Shandling) from a planet "way the 
hell out there" is sent to Earth for one mission, and one mission only: to 
mate with a woman and have a child? Sounds like the usual low-rent junk that 
is released in theaters in the spring,  or sent direct-to-video, eh? 
Certainly not, if it aims directly for laughs, and is in the hands of 
acclaimed director Mike Nichols (1983's "Silkwood," 1988's "Working Girl," 
1998's "Primary Colors"), and stars, among others, Garry Shandling (TV's "The 
Larry Sanders Show"), Annette Bening (1999's "American Beauty"), and John 
Goodman (TV's "Roseanne"). 

Following a prologue on the distant planet, where the human-looking aliens 
(who otherwise exhibit no ability to have feelings or emotions) are 
misdirected in their teachings on how to treat the opposite sex, one such 
alien, who is given the name Harold, is chosen to make his way down to Earth. 
Locating himself in Seattle, Washington, he gets himself a job at a bank and 
makes friends with his womanizing, married coworker, Perry (Greg Kinnear), 
who begins to help him in his quest to meet a woman. Harold, who firmly 
believes he can have sex with a woman if only he compliments her on her shoes 
or hair, has another problem, which is the brunt of a great many jokes, 
almost all of which are a devilish hoot: when aroused, his penis vibrates and 
makes a buzzing sound.

One evening, Perry takes Harold to an AA meeting (a prime place, Perry 
believes, to pick up conflicted and vulnerable females), where Harold is 
instantly smitten with Susan Hart (Annette Bening), a recovering 
alcoholic/real estate agent whose biological clock is ticking very loudly, 
but who has sworn to herself she will only sleep with someone again when she 
has married. After just one date, in which Harold and Susan hit it off, 
Harold proposes marriage to Susan, and in a moment of haste, she accepts. 
Their relationship soon grows problematic, however, when Harold becomes very 
distant and unloving towards Susan after she has gotten pregnant. What she 
doesn't know is that he isn't purposefully being emotionally cold to her: he 
just doesn't know how to love.

Meanwhile, following a mysterious blast on an airplane that allegedly was 
Harold's entrance to Earth, a Federal Aviation Administration agent (John 
Goodman) begins to investigate the strange occurrence, and gradually catches 
on to the true identity of Harold, causing stress on his own marriage to a 
fed-up housewife (Caroline Aaron) who believes he is having an affair.

"What Planet Are You From?" may very well be the trickiest motion picture of 
the year, thus far, because its admittedly ludicrous nature only adds to the 
delicate balancing act that must constantly be obtained by director Nichols 
and screenwriters Garry Shandling, Michael Leeson, Ed Solomon, and Peter 
Tolan. One prominent misstep, and the whole film would be in danger of 
crumbling to the ground, making the movie be a complete embarrassment for all 
involved.

It's a stroke of luck (and an obvious boatload of comedic talent), then, that 
the film is, overall, the most laugh-out-loud funny comedy in ages. For the 
first hour, it is genuinely perfect, a masterwork in which literally almost 
every attempt at a laugh works, so much so that I often was still laughing at 
one part, when the next would arise and make me laugh even more. Suffice to 
say, I wasn't able to inhale much oxygen during that sixty-minute time span. 
Everything, even right down to the use of a particular musical chord that 
echoes the raising of a character's eyebrows, is an example of comic 
brilliance, the way all comedies should work. Refreshing, too, that a movie 
with countless sex and penis jokes manages to avoid being overly juvenile, 
and is aimed squarely at teenagers and adults. It may be silly, and it may 
sometimes be even graphic in its sexual innuendo, but it is also an 
undeniable riot.

The second hour of "What Planet Are You From?" shifts tones, and while still 
effective, much of its comedy is put on the back burner for a more somber, 
poignant look at love relationships that may involve an alien in this case, 
but stands for a great deal of marriages, in general. Changing from something 
that is so highly entertaining and relatively breezy to something that delves 
a little deeper into the characters and story comes as a marginal 
disappointment on the outset, but in another way, the latter half is vital to 
what the whole picture has been setting itself up for. By getting more 
serious, but never totally abandoning its comedy, director Nichols wants us 
to invest our feelings into the fate of Harold and Susan's relationship, and 
we are surprised to realize that, while the opening had been wavering along 
the lines of even being considered a spoof, a 'la "The Naked Gun," we have, 
indeed, grown to care about them.

Only the climax, which briefly takes us back to Harold's planet for a rather 
saccharine speech on the importance of compassion and human emotions, does 
the film stumble for more than a fleeting moment, but, fortunately, it 
recoups itself by the finale.

Garry Shandling, in his first starring film role, is outstanding as Harold, 
the very important and flawless comedic center of the film. While being 
unable to feel things inside, Shandling, nonetheless, is able to gain our 
sympathies, and the eccentric romance that blossoms between he and Susan is 
sweet-natured and involving. Susan, as played with energy and appropriate 
pinnache by Annette Bening, is Harold's total match because, although she 
gradually becomes dissatisfied with his uncaring ways, makes it clear that 
she had meaningless sex with so many men in her life that she has forgotten 
herself how to love, or what it even is. Only after meeting the one-of-a-kind 
Harold does she start to rebuild her life and understand what it means to 
feel love, even when it isn't outwardly being returned to her.

As the slimy Perry, this is Greg Kinnear's most memorable role to date. 
Usually an extremely bland actor, Kinnear jumps off the screen here and makes 
his, albeit unlikable, character come alive. Judy Greer (1999's 
"Jawbreaker"), as a flight attendant turned off by Harold's advances until 
she meets him at the AA meeting, is entertaining and gets a great big laugh 
in the last second of her final scene due to the aforementioned musical chord 
that strikes at just the right time. And although just an unbilled cameo, 
Janeane Garofalo brings her usual sparkling presence to the role of a nervous 
flier whom Harold hits on, even in her horrified state. Meanwhile, Linda 
Fiorentino (1997's "Men in Black") is severely wasted as Perry's wife, who 
Harold considers having an affair with after he is married.

Whatever you do, do not be turned off by the premise, or the title itself, of 
"What Planet Are You From?" Rated R, and rightfully so, this film will 
delight adult viewers who are in the mood for a feel-good comedy that turns 
out to not only be about the punchline of jokes, but also, within the 
context, takes its characters and their situations seriously. In fact, 
perhaps the most gratifying thing of all is that director Mike Nichols and 
his cast of high-profile actors took a big risk on making this offbeat movie, 
and do not embarrass themselves. Not one little bit.

   - Copyright 2000 by Dustin Putman
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