From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Mar 1 23:20:38 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: Jon Popick Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 26 Feb 2000 18:32:04 GMT Organization: Planet Sick-Boy Lines: 65 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <899674$a9ka$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer28.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 951589924 337546 (None) 140.142.17.35 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23285 Keywords: author=popick X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer28.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22376 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2612 PLANET SICK-BOY: http://www.sick-boy.com "We Put the SIN in Cinema" This is a perfect example of why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. What Planet Are You From? might be the dumbest name for a feature film since Stop or My Mom Will Shoot. And on the surface, the story of an alien being sent to Earth to impregnate a woman seemed awful. Knowing the title of the film, and that it starred Garry Shandling, I envisioned the actor covered in a Lycra spacesuit with antennae, wrinkling up his nose and asking everyone if his ass looked big. Don’t let the name and the plotline scare you off. Sure, Shandling isn’t much of a leading man, but he did create two of the best television shows in the last dozen years (Fox’s It’s Garry Shandling’s Show and HBO’s The Larry Sanders Show). Planet‘s story was conceived by Shandling, who also shares a screenwriting credit with three other writers (including Sanders and Analyze This scribe Peter Tolan). It’s basically just the combination of two old, over-used plot formulas – the “guy trying to get laid” story and the “fish out of water” story. Think of it as a cross between American Pie and…well, anything starring Brendan Fraser. Except Planet is very entertaining. Shandling plays H1449-6, a resident of a planet four solar systems removed from our own. Their sphere is thousands of years ahead of Earth technologically, its inhabitants cloned as opposed to bred. Thanks to the cloning, they are also genetically free of emotion and their shriveled private parts are totally useless. Of course, their lack of both sex and emotion makes them want to take over the entire universe. H1449-6 is hand-picked by Graydon (Ben Kingsley, Alice in Wonderland), the planet’s leader, to travel to Earth and father a child in what will be the beginning of their slow transformation of Earth into a planet full of similarly dressed, sexless clones. Which makes it sound like the crowd at a NASCAR race. H1449-6 assimilates into Phoenix, Arizona as Harold Anderson, a banker specializing in commercial and residential lending. Armed only with corny pick-up lines, Harold starts trying to get laid before he even hits terra firma. Having been taught that complimenting women will lead to fornication, Harold is surprised when his “You smell nice” and “I like your shoes” greetings are rebuffed by every female he comes in contact with. To make matters worse, Harold was also fitted with a mechanical penis that whirs to life at the slightest hint of a sexual encounter, growing louder and louder as the chance of sex approaches. Harold comes in contact with a zany bunch of Earthlings, including his pussyhound co-worker (Greg Kinnear, Mystery Men), an FAA agent (John Goodman, Bringing out the Dead) and a struggling real estate agent (Annette Bening, American Beauty) that eventually becomes the target for his super sperm. Sure, there are problems with the script (why isn’t his mission to knock up as many women as possible?) and anyone should be able to figure out that Harold will start to act like an Earth male and develop emotions, but Planet is a still a laugh-riot. Planet was directed by Mike Nichols (Primary Colors), who successfully captures Shandling’s unique brand of humor and is nearly able to pull off the idea of the awkward comedian as a leading man. The acting is fine all around, especially Bening, who, once again, plays a real estate agent (a la her Oscar-nominated turn in American Beauty…and when did Bening replace Jane Wyman as Columbia’s torchbearer?). Planet co-starts Linda Fiorentino, Camryn Manheim, Nora Dunn and Ann Cusack, while Janeane Garofalo appears in just one scene. 1:42 - R for nudity, sexual content and adult language From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Mar 1 23:21:54 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!sunqbc.risq.qc.ca!arclight.uoregon.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: "Berge Garabedian" Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 27 Feb 2000 19:04:33 GMT Organization: None Lines: 88 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <89bsg1$fnem$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer37.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 951678273 515542 (None) 140.142.17.37 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23306 Keywords: author=garabedian X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer37.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22391 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2613 WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? RATING: 6.5 /10 --> So-so For more reviews and movie screensavers, visit http://www.joblo.com/ Am I the only one who still has dozens of "Larry Sanders" shows stashed in all my video drawers? I hope not, cause that was one of the funniest and best-written shows to ever hit the airwaves. It starred Garry Shandling as Larry, and featured much of his signature dry, sarcastic and biting humor. Easily one of the best asshole characters ever put to the small screen. With that in mind, I was looking mighty forward to Garry's first big screen credit as a writer and leading role. PLOT: A male life form from another planet populated entirely of highly evolved males is sent down to Earth in order to impregnate a woman and consequently save his own planet. CRITIQUE: Despite its one-track mentality and overall tame nature, this fun-premised film features a decent helping of chuckles, a couple of big laughs, interesting characters interpreted by good actors and enough penis jokes to satisfy...well, all penis joke lovers! Being a proud lifetime member of the penis joke lovers club, I was amused by most of what I saw in this film but still managed to leave the theater with an uneasy sense of fulfillment. Sure I smiled, laughed and giggled...uhm, well okay I don't giggle, but chuckled my way through one humming penis joke after the next, and you bet I enjoyed John Goodman's nutjob FAA dude performance, as well as Kinnear's king of sleaze character, but ultimately it just felt like the film was missing a certain je ne sais quoi...bite, perhaps! I guess I was expecting a darker, grittier and much funnier interpretation of this creative premise, but in the end, it felt more like a safe trolley ride through the sanitized lanes of Hollywood studio-land. Shandling...with restraints on tight. Don't get me wrong, the film isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, in fact, I sort of appreciated some of its smaller, more emotional moments between Shandling and Bening, and its cute ending. But if you're like me, expecting to see an edgy, darker point of view in this film, you will be hard-pressed to find it among its grab-bag of penis humming jokes. In fact, the penis humming gag is the film's main running feature (i.e. alien gets horny, penis starts humming loudly...alien gets turned off, the humming subsides), which I personally enjoyed (see previous lifetime membership acknowledgment earlier on in this review), but which I certainly can see getting "old" to others out there. Overall, I would say that the film does provide for some light, enjoyable, quick and easy entertainment with an original story, but I would recommend that you go into it with minimal expectations and a certified predilection towards penis and male chauvinistic humor. Guilty on both counts :) Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Garry Shandling is not an easy person to break up with, as proven by the end of his 7-year relationship with actress Linda Doucett (who played the blonde, bimbo secretary on "The Larry Sanders" show), which resulted in her filing charges against him for sex discrimination and sexual harassment, as well as his breakup with long-time agent and friend, Brad Grey, which resulted in Shandling suing Grey for millions of dollars. Annette Bening currently has three children with actor Warren Beatty, also known as the "Man with the golden dick", with another one baking in the oven. John Goodman calls New Orleans, Louisiana home for him, his wife of eleven years and their one daughter. Interesting to note that actress Annette Bening once again portrays a real-estate agent in this film, as she did in her Oscar-nominated role from AMERICAN BEAUTY (7.5/10), as well as getting pinned in bed by her lover. Director Mike Nichols was born in Berlin, Germany to a Russian father and a German mother. His real name is Michael Igor Peschkowsky. His family immigrated to the United States when he was only seven years old, and he was brought up in New York City. He also co-founded the Chicago comedy group The Compass, later renamed Second City. He has been calling TV anchor Diane Sawyer his wife since 1988. Review Date: February 26, 2000 Director: Mike Nichols Writers: Garry Shandling, Michael Leeson, Ed Solomon and Peter Tolan Producers: Mike Nichols, Garry Shandling and Neil A. Machlis Actors: Garry Shandling as Harold Anderson Annette Bening as Susan Hart John Goodman as Roland Jones Greg Kinnear as Perry Gordon Genre: Comedy Year of Release: 2000 ------------------------------------- JoBlo's Movie Emporium http://www.joblo.com/ ------------------------------------- (c) 2000 Berge Garabedian From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Mar 1 23:22:21 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeed.direct.ca!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: Scott Renshaw Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: 27 Feb 2000 19:04:50 GMT Organization: None Lines: 89 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <89bsgi$gdus$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer13.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 951678290 538588 (None) 140.142.17.40 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23308 Keywords: author=renshaw X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer13.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22392 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2614 WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? (Columbia) Starring: Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, John Goodman, Greg Kinnear, Ben Kingsley, Linda Fiorentino, Judy Greer, Richard Jenkins. Screenplay: Michael Leeson & Garry Shandling and Peter Tolan. Producers: Mike Nichols, Garry Shandling and Neil Machlis. Director: Mike Nichols. MPAA Rating: R (profanity, sexual situations, adult themes, nudity) Running Time: 103 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw. I started to get a sense for how good WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? could be at around the fifth or sixth iteration of The Gag. It's the running gag that comes from the unique identity of its main character, an alien known on his home planet as H1449-6 (Garry Shandling) but tagged Harold Anderson for his mission on earth. Part of an emotionless all-male race that reproduces via cloning and has conquest of other worlds always on its mind, Harold is sent to our world to impregnate an earth woman, thus preparing the way for an invasion through alien progeny. Unfortunately, the men of this world have evolved without genitalia for lack of need, so Harold is equipped with an artificial organ -- one that hums when he is aroused. As a gimmick, it's positively inspired, providing an auditory cue for every time Harold starts feeling a bit randy. It's also a gimmick that could have grown really old really fast, turning WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? into a one-joke movie without much to laugh at. I'm guessing that there are probably three dozen humming penis gags in WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? And I'll be damned if I didn't laugh at every one of them. The reason the joke works for so long and with so many variations is that Shandling (who also co-wrote) and company realize that you can still write a smart comic script that happens to include some lowbrow subjects (he proved that point for several years on "The Larry Sanders Show." Part high-concept comedy, part broad farce and part exploration of male-female dynamics, it's actually a clever spin on relationship tomes like "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus" and "You Just Don't Understand." Plenty of sharp self-help comedy comes from Shandling's relationship with recovering alcoholic Susan (Annette Bening), and novice lover Harold's difficulties understanding his new compaion. Meanwhile, the supporting cast offers plenty of support: Greg Kinnear as Harold's sexually and professionally predatory co-worker; Ben Kingsley as the dead-serious leader of Harold's planet; and the ever-reliable John Goodman as an FAA investigator who may be on to Harold's identity. I suppose you could say WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? is sort of an unruly film. Actually, it's a _very_ unruly film, often leaping through sub-plots and minor characters too quickly to do them justice. Goodman's troubles with his wife, which might have made a marvelous counterpoint to the alien's relationship troubles, instead serve as the source for a couple of throwaway gags. Linda Fiorentino is woefully underused as Kinnear's femme fatale-ish wife, and there's a rushed feeling to all the scenes on Harold's home world (as though the budget wasn't quite there for a more thorough peek at their culture). For a film from Mike Nichols -- a director whose films almost always click with comic precision -- WHAT PLANET is a bit ragged and scattershot. And it's also very, very funny. Films with laugh-out-loud moments are embarassingly rare, which makes it all the more wonderful that WHAT PLANET hits on so many levels of humor. The dialogue is full of the kind of razor-sharp punch lines that recall vintage Woody Allen. Subtle bits of physical acting add kick to the simplest scenes (watch for Shandling's priceless change of expression during his first date with Susan). Predictable sight gags are given unpredictable twists. A weird shift to a hard-boiled exchange between Shandling and Goodman adds an effectivley bizarre late change of pace. Even the warmer moments of gentle character humor work. But most of all, there's The Gag -- not necessarily because it inspires the biggest laughs, but because it inspires the most. WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? may be messy, but it sure is plenty entertaining. Shandling and his cohorts prove that exquisite execution can take even the silliest concepts and make them ... well, hum. On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 genitaliens: 7. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit Scott Renshaw's Screening Room http://www.inconnect.com/~renshaw/ *** Subscribe to receive new reviews directly by email! See the Screening Room for details, or reply to this message with subject "Subscribe". -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Mar 1 23:22:44 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newspump.monmouth.com!newspeer.monmouth.com!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: "Harvey S. Karten" Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 27 Feb 2000 19:04:40 GMT Organization: None Lines: 128 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <89bsg8$fneo$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer06.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 951678280 515544 (None) 140.142.17.38 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23307 Keywords: author=karten X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer06.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22398 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2615 WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? Reviewed by Harvey Karten Columbia Pictures Director: Mike Nichols Writer: Garry Shandling & Michael Leeson and Ed Solomon and Peter Tolan. Story by Garry Shandling & Michael Leeson Cast: Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, John Goodman, Greg Kinnear, Ben Kingsley, Linda Fiorentino, Camryn Mannheim, Nora Dunn As I was leaving the theater, I spotted two people on the street, the sorts of young people sometimes referred to as a box office couple. She: tall blond and statuesque not unlike supermodel Claudia Schiffer. He: a near replica of Brad Pitt. "They must be thoroughly absorbed in each other," I figured, but no. While they were waiting for the light to change, he punched out some keys on his cell phone, got a wrong number, and punched again. "She must be annoyed with this behavior," I assessed, but no: no sooner did he get off the phone than she picked it up and began clicking away herself. What does this all mean? It could mean a simple case of parents calling their baby sitter, but then again it could suggest that both of these beautiful people were more interested in talking to others via technology than through direct, available human contact. All this is an apt metaphor for TV watching, the typical scenario being the nuclear family's sitting around the living for four hours nightly watching their favorite programs and hardly acknowledging one another. The way technology interferes with human relationships is a fitting subject for documentaries, essays, and most interestingly, science fiction movies. That's the very theme of "What Planet Are You From?", partly produced, partly written, and partly featuring TV host Garry Shandling as the title character. Like the best science fiction, "What Planet," though situated in the future, satirizes our contemporary culture. In exposing the threat of technology it doesn't match up to "1984," which warns against Big Brotherism, "Fahrenheit 451," which cautions against giving up reading in favor of watching the big screen, and one of the greatest of them all, "Logan's Run," a riff on a society that vaporizes its citizens once they reach the useless age of thirty. "What Planet Are You From?" has its moments of rollicking fun, but the whole project appears underwritten, depending on the incessant repetition of a penis joke. A penis has been attached to alien Harold Anderson (Garry Shandling) with a flaw: it hums every time he's excited. This is the story of a people from a distant solar system who are intent on dominating the universe. To conquer our world, they must (for some unexplained reason) assign one of their citizens to Earth with the task of copulating with a female, producing a child. The baby would be whisked off to the planet and cloned, perhaps thousands of times over, thereby making the conquest of Earth more attainable. The people of the planet are led by Graydon (Ben Kingsley), who selects Harold Anderson for the job, preparing him by furnishing lines to feed the women: "You smell great," or "Your shoes are stylish." The comedy is evoked from the subtleties of which Anderson and his instructors are not aware, in other words, you have to say a lot more to women to make them responsive and you have to show emotion. Unfortunately the people of the distant planet are so technologically advanced--one thousand times more so than those of Earth--that they have lost their capacity to feel. Get it? Therein lies the warning for us back home in the year 2000. Aside from calling our attention to the dangers of technology, the story takes off from self-help guru John Gray's best-seller, "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: A Practical Guide for improving Communication and Getting What You Want in Your Relationships." Anderson is to learn that women are not at all like men. They crave intimacy, not one-night stands; they need a shoulder to learn on; they need to be listened to intently as they express the very feelings that men are embarrassed to verbalize. Anderson could not have picked a more complex woman to seduce than Susan (Annette Bening), whom he met at an Alcoholics Anonymous conference to which he was dragged by a randy colleague with whom he works in a bank, Perry Gordon (Greg Kinnear). "A great place to pick up women," cites Perry, as Harold hones in on someone who has just renounced alcohol and who, unfortunately for him, refuses to have any more sex before she is married. Obviously the solution is to propose to her virtually on their first date--wherein much of the comedy lies. The cast is rounded out by the machinations of an agent of the Federal Aviation Administration, Roland Jones (John Goodman), who is obsessed with finding out why an Arizona West aircraft experienced turbulence three times--each time involving the presence of passenger Harold Anderson. "What Planet Are You From?" should have been funnier. After all sex comedies are made to arouse frequent, not vaguely periodic laughter ever since Aristophanes penned "Lysistrata" about 2500 years ago--about how women locked their husbands out of their bedrooms until the men ceased making war. Shandling is fine for the role. Not for him the broad buffoonery of a pratfalling Chevy Chase or the inane facial expressions of a Matthew Perry. This would appear the perfect role for him as a confused guy meeting the women of the Earth for the first time and having only a Relationships 101 background to guide him. And Annette Bening combines some of the most alluring looks in Hollywood with a face brimming with character. Greg Kinnear as the guy who gets promoted to vice president of his bank by stealing Anderson's report and who regularly has sex in the bank vault with at least one of the voluptuous women who work in the depository virtually steals the show--looking better than ever in a closely-trimmed goatee. The movie has nothing like the pizazz of "Galaxy Quest" as it plods along, its attractive characters often appearing lost in outer space with generally inane and repetitious dialogue. Incidentally, I wonder about the people who write the production notes. The press kit uses the word "penis" several times in describing the plot, but instead of spelling the term out, it refers to a p****. Are the real words describing body parts now taboo--in an age in which the most blatant vulgarities are so often spelled out? Rated R. Running Time: 100 minutes. (C) 2000 Harvey Karten, film_critic@compuserve.com From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Mar 1 23:22:57 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: "Mac VerStandig" Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 27 Feb 2000 19:08:37 GMT Organization: None Lines: 66 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <89bsnl$djoa$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer19.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 951678517 446218 (None) 140.142.17.38 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23316 Keywords: author=verstandig X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer19.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22404 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2616 What Planet Are You From 2 and 1/2 Stars (Out of 4) Reviewed by Mac VerStandig critic@moviereviews.org http://www.moviereviews.org February 27, 2000 USA Release Date - March 3, 2000 ---A copy of this review can be found at http://www.moviereviews.org/what_planet_are_you_from.htm --- The ordinarily conservative Ben Kingsley, while playing an intergalactic leader, says "penis." Gary Shandling's character makes a humming noise when sexually aroused, courtesy of an artificial sex organ. A sleazy banker has intercourse with his supervisor in the vault. Find this funny? So do I. But not for two hours. Some planet, "way the hell out there," is attempting a universal domination bid by knocking off one celestial body at a time and earth's number has come up. (Now there's a new one!) Agent 1449-6 (Gary Shandling) is selected to lead the takeover mission by going to earth, assuming the name Harold Anderson and successfully inseminating a human female. (Another new one!) Blending in won't be difficult, however, as our out-of-town guest already has a human appearance - minus a penis that is. Yes, one of the keys to the all-male planet's domination is that none of its species can think with any head other than that lying firmly between their shoulders. Anderson ultimately settles on Susan Hart, (Annette Bening hot off of her Academy Award nominated portrayal of Carolyn Burnham in American Beauty) a reformed alcoholic whom he picks up at an A. A. meeting. There is little shock when Susan finally becomes pregnant and breaks the news to Harold with a lame yet surprisingly memorable show stopping "High Hopes." Because Anderson has neither pride to lose nor humiliation to fear, he makes passes at woman after woman from the minute he lands until he settles on Hart. This allows the film to use numerous hilarious pickup lines that put this summer's memorable "Suck me, Beautiful!" (care of American Pie) to shame. But the oftentimes offensive and always lurid cracks are overshadowed by the aforementioned reoccurring vibrating penis joke that stops being funny very quickly but continues throughout the entire piece. Like most alien-come-to-earth movies, the villain here is represented by a disgruntled government employee with a rocky marriage. (EDITOR'S NOTE: you can delete the "alien-come-to-earth.") Here the bad guy is Roland Jones (John Goodman), but he never achieves full evil status since you simply can't help but feel badly for the overworked government servant. When dealing with a movie of this nature, some reality must be suspended. Fine, aliens who travel quickly through space and blend in on earth can be bought. But some concepts aren't as easy to swallow. Isn't it odd that Hart is willing to repeatedly engage in sexual congress with Anderson even though his reproductive organ hums? What about the fact that very few people think twice about her ability to deliver a baby after only the first trimester? And if Anderson took some poor guy's job, where is the poor guy? So, to recap, Gandhi says a naughty word, Larry Sanders can't control himself and Carolyn Burnham sings. Don't let your hopes be as high as hers. From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Mar 1 23:23:03 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: Max Messier Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 29 Feb 2000 05:17:20 GMT Organization: filmcritic.com Lines: 50 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <89fkp0$dj9g$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer07.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 951801440 445744 (None) 140.142.17.38 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23342 Keywords: author=messier X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer07.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22425 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2617 filmcritic.com presents a review from staff member Max Messier. You can find the review with full credits at http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/2a460f93626cd4678625624c007f2b46/fcfc38c81c72f6bc88256894000c3d09?OpenDocument What Planet Are You From? A film review by Max Messier copyright 2000 filmcritic.com It’s always a shame to see great comedic minds fall so far from the mark. Garry Shandling is a funny man. Just check out any episode of "The Larry Sanders Show." He has a wonderfully dry wit and is downright hilarious without drawing overt attention to himself. I just want to know what the hell happened to What Planet are You From? Simple story line: Alien must come to Earth and impregnate female human being to establish future dominance of his planet’s race. Comedic premise: Alien must learn how to communicate to female human beings. Comedy rolls on: Alien encounters and makes ass of himself to female human beings. Comedy continues: Alien tracked by rogue FAA agent. Comedy continues even more: Alien meets female human and falls in love. Cue drama. That’s about it. Let’s examine the facts. You have Mike Nichols, the Oscar-winning director of The Graduate, Catch-22, and the underrated Primary Colors, steering this oil tanker of a film. A great supporting cast of Annette Bening, John Goodman, Greg Kinnear, and Ben Kingsley all try to make something out of nothing of a script. Garry Shandling has co-written himself into a very dark corner of unfunny comedy. All of which means, I’m a bit lost. Some funny moments can be found, buried in the film, but the jokes end up falling flat after the first fifteen minutes. The romantic situations that could have been executed become contrived and ridiculous. This would have made a great Adam Sandler/Rob Schneider vehicle. (Though even I must admit, Garry Shandling's vibrating penis deserves a least one bonus star.) And kudos to the likes of Bening, Goodman, Kinnear, and Kingsley for pouring some great acting into the most pointless of scripts. Director: Mike Nichols Writer: Garry Shandling, Michael Leeson, Ed Solomon, Peter Tolan Starring: Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, Greg Kinnear, John Goodman Producers: Brad Grey and Bernie Brillstein Two stars -- Christopher Null - cnull@mindspring.com - http://www.filmcritic.com From rec.arts.sf.reviews Sun Mar 5 17:08:46 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: bob bloom Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 3 Mar 2000 06:17:26 GMT Organization: None Lines: 88 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <89nldm$d2r4$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> Reply-To: bobbloom@iquest.net NNTP-Posting-Host: homer17.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 952064246 428900 (None) 140.142.17.35 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23365 Keywords: author=bloom X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer17.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22469 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2622 What Planet Are You From? (2000) 1/2 star out of 4. Starring Gary Shandling, Annette Bening, Ben Kingsley, John Goodman, Greg Kinnear and Linda Fiorentino. Directed by Mike Nichols. "What Planet Are You From?" follows a long line of science fiction films in which male aliens come to Earth for the sole purpose of mating with human females. But the question is, why? What makes Earth women so special that male ETs would travel thousands of light years merely to get ‘em in the sack? I mean with all the millions of planets out there, you’re telling me that Earth has the most desirable women in the universe? There's not some hot, green-skinned number on a planet revolving Alpha Centuri who makes the "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit models look like Janet Reno? No offense, ladies, but I don’t buy it. As a species, women are for the most part too complicated — and have too many issues — for human males, so how can alien males who know nothing of our culture hope to succeed where the majority of us fall on our butts — and most times more than once. And that’s the beauty of movies such as "What Planet Are You From?" Unfortunately, the latest member of this small genre is a stinker. My first clue that something was amiss with "What Planet Are You From?" was found in the writing credits. While the story is credited to star Garry Shandling and Michael Leeson, the screenplay credit contains four names, including those of Shandling and Leeson. Comedy, like brain surgery, is a delicate procedure and the cliché about too many cooks rightly applies. "What Planet Are You From?" is listless, lame and limpid. It cannot decide if it wants to be a low-comedy sex farce or a satiric look at male-female relationships and marriage. Either way, the movie fails. It is neither meat nor fowl. It’s an overcooked goulash not fit for cinematic consumption. The story is simple. A technologically advanced planet consisting of an all-male population, decides to expand by conquering the Earth. How? Easy. They send one of their own to the planet to impregnate a female, which would be the first step. How that leads to world domination is never explained, and neither is a lot of other aspects of this woeful exercise. Suffice it to say that when a prop male organ that hums has more charisma than the star to which it is attached, the movie has big problems. As you watch "What Planet Are You From?", you feel embarrassment for many of the cast members. Annette Bening, for instance, tries so darn hard to be cute, bubbly and perky that you can almost see the sweat break out on her forehead. And God only knows what Ben Kingsley was thinking as he continually exits airplanes by being flushed down the commode. Actually, he could have done all of us a favor if had taken all copies of the script with him. Shandling’s laid back, ironic and wry comedy stylings are unsuitable to carry a film. His type of humor is more observational. On the screen, he makes a better second banana, commenting on the foibles of others, than a leading man. What he needed was a Garry Shandling of his own. "What Planet Are You From?" was directed by Mike Nichols, who is no comedy slouch. And it is understandable what attracted him to the project. The topical humor is a bit reminiscent of the riffs he and Elaine May did 30 or 40 years ago. Well, she had her "Ishtar" and now he has his. It would be more fun to kick back and watch a guilty pleasure such as "I Married a Monster from Outer Space" or even "Mars Needs Women" than to suffer through "What Planet Are You From?" One final thought: Why aren’t there movies in which beautiful, big-breasted female aliens come to Earth to mate with human males in order to save their planet? Id. volunteer. Oh well, I can dream. And those ramblings will be more enjoyable than sitting through "What Planet Are You From?" Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net From rec.arts.sf.reviews Sun Mar 5 17:09:12 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: Bill Chambers Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 3 Mar 2000 06:18:10 GMT Organization: @home Lines: 97 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <89nlf2$8lbs$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer19.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 952064290 284028 (None) 140.142.17.38 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23372 Keywords: author=chambers X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer19.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22467 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2621 WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? **1/2 (out of four) -a review by Bill Chambers (bill@filmfreakcentral.net) (More? Visit "Film Freak Central" for the latest film and DVD reviews, plus essays, contests, and the proverbial much, much more! - http://filmfreakcentral.net/ - Bring a friend.) starring Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, John Goodman, Ben Kingsley screenplay by Garry Shandling, Michael Leeson, Ed Solomon, Peter Tolan directed by Mike Nichols To paint a picture of how immature Mike Nichols’ What Planet Are You From? can get, its McGuffin is a vibrating penis. The film stoops, often, to a level of humour rarely used outside the schoolyard—or an episode of “Married With Children”. Yet there’s an infectious sunshine in its comedy; Garry Shandling’s first big screen starring vehicle revels in impropriety without lapsing into bad taste. My problems with What Planet Are You From? generally lie outside its sense of humour. A Star Wars-style credit crawl recounts the development of a faraway planet populated entirely by brilliant, emotionless men. Their leader (Ben Kingsley) has chosen galactic domination as their next course of action, starting with Earth. One lucky citizen will be outfitted with an electric schlong and transported via some bizarre molecular charge to America, natch, where he will be expected to impregnate an earthling woman. “Harold Anderson” (Shandling) proves himself up to the challenge in a series of ignorantly designed tests on the art of courtship. Harold’s ‘spaceship’ crashes into a plane bound for Phoenix; he begins work immediately upon exiting the tiny lavatory, flirting unsuccessfully with a harried flight attendant (Judy Greer) and a passenger (Shandling’s receptionist from “The Larry Sanders Show”, Janeane Garofalo) who has been frightened by the faux turbulence. (“I like your shoes,” he tells her as she cries out for comfort.) On ground, Harold immediately lands an upper-level job at a non-descript financial institution, where he seeks out dating advice from philandering co-worker Perry (Greg Kinnear). Following a few aborted flings, Harold meets recovering alcoholic Susan (a game Annette Bening), with whom he shares a desire to have a baby. They marry in Vegas and have a 21-hour honeymoon of non-stop sex. Like many a horn dog before him, Harold misunderstands his duties as a provider of emotional support thereafter, and would rather watch TV than discuss feelings with his wife. The film’s witty hook is that Susan can’t tell the difference between a man and an alien—moreover, that a member of a notoriously unsympathetic alien race is anthropologically indistinguishable from sleazy Perry or Roland Jones (John Goodman), a neglectful airline insurance investigator. (Jones allows his marriage to disintegrate in his quest to expose Harold’s secret identity.) As a result, Harold and Susan’s interstellar divide is, amusingly, a non-issue. Still, it’s not news that the sexes are eternally, and maybe extraterrestrially, engaged in silent battle, and whenever What Planet Are You From? gets its mind out of the gutter long enough to be about long term relationships, it is no more revelatory than a night at “Yuk Yuk”’s. (A little vibrating penis goes a long, long way.) As the man responsible for The Graduate, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and Carnal Knowledge, director Nichols specializes in stories that explore the male-female dynamic, which probably made him seem the ideal choice to mount a quasi-adaptation of John Gray’s soupy reference book Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. Yet What Planet Are You From?’s guiding hand could be mistaken for that of John Landis or Amy Heckerling, especially given the preponderance of skin and the shabbier edges of the material (neither filmmaker is famed for his/her scrutiny): the corners of the blasé plot don’t always meet and Bo Welch’s outerspace sets are derivative of Men in Black’s gleaming headquarters, which he also designed. Lacking any unique political perspective, What Planet Are You From? is a high-profile T&A comedy, albeit an enjoyable one. The tone of the film is pleasantly relaxed and awfully sweet—we’re barely alerted to the climax before it happens and get to spend a lot of quality time with Bening as she charms in spades. Shandling is droll, as always (as a devoted fan of “...Larry Sanders...”, I admit a certain bias to the scrunch-faced actor), and, as Harold begins tearing down his emotional girders and taking responsibility for his actions, he displays an oft-muted warmth in full-force. (Shandling also makes off with the best line in the movie, say I, though to reveal it is to spoil many surprises.) Others in the ensemble are not so successful, notably Kinnear, who fritters away the clout earned from an Oscar nomination in a role that has Sam McMurray (who played the wife-swapping boss of Nicolas Cage’s character in Raising Arizona) written all over it. And what the heck are Linda Fiorentino and Ben Kingsley doing there? If Nichols didn’t have the reputation of a Woody Allen or a Robert Altman, and if the project didn’t necessitate hiring big names to elevate its cachet beyond that of another coming-of-human tale, casting choices may have been a little less all-star perfunctory, and subsequently improved the picture. -March, 2000 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Mar 6 12:33:57 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!nntp.primenet.com!nntp.gctr.net!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: Chuck Schwartz Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 5 Mar 2000 19:31:10 GMT Organization: EarthLink Network, Inc. Lines: 78 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <89uclu$dj8q$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer23.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 952284670 445722 (None) 140.142.17.37 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23384 Keywords: author=schwartz X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer23.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22475 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2623 CrankyCritic® movie reviews: What Planet Are You From? Rated [R], 105 minutes Starring Garry Shandling, Annette Bening Story by Garry Shandling & Michael Leeson Screenplay by Shandling & Leeson and Ed Solomon and Peter Tolan Directed by Mike Nichols website: www.sony.com/whatplanet/ IN SHORT: "It's Garry Shandling's Movie..." ....which is how the advertising folks should have billed this very funny flick, 'cuz none of 'em obviously watched the damned thing. Thus the ad campaign which implies that an alien being from a planet of men and only men, comes to earth to father a child and save his planet. Nope. The advanced society of said planet wants to conquer earth. It's said so right at the top of the flick, as Star Wars-like background titles roll up the screen. Why making one baby with an earthling would enable these aliens to conquer earth is beyond me, but logic needs no reason in this story, a perfect setup to Garry Shandling's type of reaction humor, which is firing on all cylinders in this flick. And just forty or fifty years ago, all alien planets were stocked with busty, barely clad women, all desperately in need of a good shtup. Now, in the first Year Zero in a century, we are confronted with the intellectual and technological inhabitants of a Planet we'll call X, all male and all dressed in black and gray Armani suits, looking like the clones that they are. Without women, this society has gone beyond the need for emotions or relationships or the private parts that play such an important part in each. Thus, H1449-6 (hereafter Harold Anderson) is dispatched to Arizona, USA, to find and knock up one of our own. This being accomplished, their dastardly plan to do away with our various lifestyles would be underway .. . . except that they've sent Garry Shandling. Harold's assignment has him posing as a loan officer at a bank, where an incredibly sleazy co-worker (Greg Kinnear) shows him the ropes of picking up chicks. One chick happens to be Susan Hart (Annette Bening) who has enough problems of her own and has dealt with them by deciding, among other things, not to have sex until she is married. Harold, whose mind is on nothing but procreation, pops the question after one date. From there on in, What Planet... quickly becomes a learning experience for the ET as to what relationships truly mean. Just as director Mike Nichols' The Birdcage wasn't as much about gay life as it was about families, so is What Planet... more about the male/female thing than alien conquest. OK, we'll forgive the marketing people for this one... What Planet Are You From? is a Garry Shandling comedy and it delivers all the chuckles you associate with GS, once again taking a concept fit for a trashy TV sitcom (and, yes, I do sorta kinda like 3rd Rock From The Sun, though it took awhile) and elevates it to a level of comedy fit for adults. Any fan knows that Shandling has made an art of creating inept, and intellectually funny, characters. Any fan will not be disappointed. With a very small dose of low-brow humor added to the mix, the folks just looking for a good time will not be disappointed, either. John Goodman plays the FAA investigator hot on Harold's tail. Teevee faces Nora Dunn, Camryn Manheim play Susan's friends. Ben Kingsley plays Graydon, leader of Planet X (and while July 14 is still months -- and a different movie studio -- away, any X-Men fanboy is going to catch at least two very in jokes at the end of this flick). All are positive reinforcement to the gags. On average, a first run movie ticket will run you Eight Bucks. Were Cranky able to set his own price to What Planet Are Your From?, he would have paid... $6.00 If you're not a Shandling fan, What Planet... is still a better than average time in the dark. For those of us that wonder why we should shell out for something that's been done in broad comic strokes on teevee . . . 'cuz it's funny. That's why. The Cranky Critic® is a Registered Trademark of, and Copyright © 2000 by, Chuck Schwartz. All Rights Reserved. Cranky on the web at www.crankycritic.com From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Mar 6 12:35:22 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeed.direct.ca!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: Eugene Novikov Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 5 Mar 2000 19:31:56 GMT Organization: Deja.com - Before you buy. Lines: 79 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <89ucnc$il1g$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer38.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 952284716 611376 (None) 140.142.17.35 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23392 Keywords: author=novikov X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer38.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22486 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2625 What Planet Are You From? (2000) Reviewed by Eugene Novikov http://www.ultimate-movie.com/ Member: Online Film Critics Society Starring Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, John Goodman, Greg Kinnear, Ben Kingsley, Linda Fiorentino. Directed by Mike Nichols. Rated R. One of the most important rules of making a comedy is that you can't have it both ways. You can either have a goofball, irreverent, slapstick jamboree, in which case it has to be funny, but isn't required to make a whole lot of sense. Or you can aim higher and make a more ambitious movie, raunchy at director's discretion but also insightful and intelligent. The latter, however, has one catch: it has to have a thought-out plot. Mike Nichols's new movie What Planet Are You From? is missing that last all-important component. "Men are from Mars, Woman are from Venus" and Harold Anderson (Garry Shandling) is from somewhere way the hell out there. Literally. He's an alien from another planet and he has come to earth to procreate in order to assist his homeworld's plans for universe domination. There are a couple of problems. His planet consists of an all-male population and he has no experience with human females. The catch phrases he learned, such as "You smell good" and "I like your shoes" obviously don't cut it. Also, he is missing the crucial equipment so it has to be installed -- and whenever he is aroused, it hums. Yes, that's right -- it hums. Harold takes a liking to Susan, a real estate agent/recovering alcoholic (Annette Bening, playing a real estate agent for the second time in a row). She is vulnerable at the time and she marries him on the spot. Their relationship doesn't exactly take off because all the groom cares about is that baby while the blushing bride worries that she may be sterile. Meanwhile, a Federal Aviation Administration agent (John Goodman) notices some strange things and gets on Harold's trail. There are actually a lot of good things to say about What Planet Are You From?. First and foremost is Annette Bening's performance which is the best of the movie. In her last film, American Beauty, her gem of a performance went somewhat underappreciated (even though, oddly enough, it got an Oscar nomination) because it was upstaged by the acting behemoth that is Kevin Spacey and the film's generally bizarre nature. Here, she gets a chance to shine; there is a scene where she does an uproarious song-and-dance rendition of "High Hopes" that won't soon leave my memory. Garry Shandling doesn't have the best comic timing around, but he is a whiz of facial expressions and because of the nature of his performance, he is often dead-on. The running gag, of course, is the humming genitalia, which somehow manages not to turn this into a one joke movie. It gets somewhat predictable, but never old. The movie really is quite funny, and at times affecting, but as a whole it doesn't hold up. It feels incomplete because while the film seems to actually care about the characters and their emotionss, it doesn't have an iota of concern for its plot. Nothing makes sense. The film doesn't bother to explain anything about the aliens' background or what exactly it is they are here for. The whole scenario remains irritatingly ambiguous, preventing us from ever actually caring about what happens on screen. The film's set-up fits a Saturday Night Live sketch better than a full-length movie. I have seen far worse comedies about aliens from outer space. What Planet Are You From? at least manages to keep us from squirming in our seats even if it never realizes its ambitions of involving our emotions. Garry Shandling, in his first movie since completing his Larry Sanders Show stint on HBO, looks promising for a lively big- screen career. And Mike Nichols, who is revered for making comedies with a compelling human side has made a movie that barely skims the surface when it needed so desperately to dig a little deeper. Grade: C+ ©2000 Eugene Novikov Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy. From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Mar 6 12:35:28 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newspump.monmouth.com!newspeer.monmouth.com!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: FilmFan16@aol.com (Dustin Putman) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 5 Mar 2000 20:10:15 GMT Organization: None Lines: 141 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <89uev7$bni0$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer23.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 952287015 384576 (None) 140.142.17.40 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23416 Keywords: author=putman X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer23.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22490 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2626 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 Http://www.young-hollywood.com Http://www.atnzone.com From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Mar 8 12:12:56 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeed.direct.ca!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: tlcclp@aol.com (Christian Pyle) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 6 Mar 2000 17:11:27 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Lines: 79 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <8a0orv$fc8m$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer12.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 952362687 504086 (None) 140.142.17.35 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23447 Keywords: author=pyle X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer12.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22537 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2634 What Planet Are You From? Reviewed by Christian Pyle Directed by Mike Nichols Written by Garry Shandling, Michael Leeson, Ed Solomon, and Peter Tolan Starring Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, John Goodman, Greg Kinnear, and Ben Kingsley Official Site: http://www.spe.sony.com/movies/whatplanet/ Grade: C+ Somewhere way out there is a planet with a society that has advanced beyond the need for reproduction. However, they haven't gotten past the desire for conquest yet, so the planet's leader (Ben Kingsley) dispatches H1449-6 (Garry Shandling) to Earth to impregnate a human female. (If this works, they'll send lots more guys to knock up our women, and the offspring will eventually take over the planet). The alien operative comes to Earth with the human name Harold Anderson and a job at a Phoenix bank. His slimy co-worker Perry (Greg Kinnear) takes Harold to an AA meeting to pick up chicks. There they meet Susan Hart (Annette Bening), who's just given up a life of debauchery in favor of sobriety. The aliens have an unusual mode of travel between planets: they beam themselves into the restrooms of airplanes in flight. So, while Harold seeks a receptive womb, FAA investigator Roland Jones (John Goodman) is looking into the bright lights and turbulence that accompanied Harold's arrival on Earth. Although skeptical after twenty years on the job, Roland soon deduces the truth about Harold. On their first date, Susan tells Harold that she's not going to have sex again until she's married. The next time he sees her, Harold proposes. After some deliberation, Susan accepts, and they're off to Vegas. Even as he moves closer to completing his mission, Harold begins to have feelings for Susan that weren't covered in his training. Will he be able to leave her when the baby is born? >From "The Graduate" to "The Birdcage," Mike Nichols has directed fresher, funnier movies than this one. The laughs in "What Planet Are You From?" come in clumps separated by slow and predictable sequences. The script by Shandling and company could have used another rewrite or two. It benefits from the fact that sex is always funny, but it doesn't find any new approaches to familiar gags. Several of the funniest bits are beaten to death with repetition. For example, Harold's artificial penis hums when he gets an erection. The first time around, the joke is really funny; by the fifteenth time, it's just annoying. In the varied ensemble cast, Annette Bening stands out. She plays her part of the recovering alcoholic seeking meaning and stability with the earnestness of drama. As a result, Susan is a well-developed, three-dimensional character. Although the men get higher billing, the supporting actresses provide many of the funniest moments. Caroline Aaron is hilarious as Roland's suspicious wife Nadine who believes that his sudden interest in work must mean he's having an affair. Linda Fiorentino plays Perry's wife who tries to seduce Harold to get even with her husband (who actually is having an affair). Nobody can play a seduction scene as well as she can. Despite having starred in two ground-breaking television series, Garry Shandling remains a comedian, not an actor. He can deliver funny lines with skillful timing, but he can't bring a character to life. This flaw doesn't bode well for his career as a movie star, and I predict he'll find his way back to the small screen or be content with supporting roles. Speaking of supporting actors . . . Greg Kinnear and Ben Kingsley CAN act but this movie doesn't give them much to work with. They both try hard but their characters are standard stock figures we've seen a dozen times before. I especially hope to see Kinnear in a meatier role soon. He proved his talent with his Oscar-nominated performance in "As Good as It Gets" but hasn't challenged himself since. Bottom Line: A handful of hilarious scenes separated by genial but stale plot development © 2000 Christian L. Pyle Read my reviews and others at the Mad Review: http://www.madreview.com/main.html From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Mar 8 12:13:03 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: John Beachem Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 8 Mar 2000 07:10:21 GMT Organization: University of Washington Lines: 83 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <8a4uct$61da$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer22.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 952499421 198058 (None) 140.142.17.38 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23452 Keywords: author=beachem X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer22.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22544 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2636 WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? Review by John Beachem * * * 1/2 Directed by: Mike Nichols Written by: Garry Shandling (story), Michael Leeson How do you think an alien would react if forced to experience the trials of human dating rituals? This is the main idea behind "What Planet are you From?", the new comedy from director Mike Nichols ("Primary Colors", "The Birdcage"). Garry Shandling ("The Larry Sanders Show"), who also developed the film's story, plays the lead role. The truth is, I went into this movie not expecting a whole lot out of Shandling. I've never cared for his previous roles, and the previews looked somewhat bland. Much to my surprise, "What Planet are you From?" turned out to be quite an enjoyable movie with fairly consistent laughs throughout. This is mainly because not only does Shandling do an admirable job, but he is surrounded by a great supporting cast. On a planet way the hell out there, a race of men is preparing to take over the universe by sending minions to have sex with women from every other race in the galaxy. Harold Anderson (Garry Shandling) has been chosen to procreate with a female from Earth. His planet's leader (Ben Kingsley) prepares him with the necessary training (in a very amusing opening scene) and gives him two days to conceive a child. However, upon his arrival, Anderson finds that his training has not prepared him for the illogical behavior of humans. He immediately seeks help from a co-worker (Greg Kinnear) and is soon introduced to a suitable mate named Susan (Annette Bening). Anderson is faced with two problems now: First, Susan will only mate with him after they are married, and second, his arrival on the planet has aroused the suspicions of an airport employee (John Goodman) who soon discovers who Anderson really is. I think the funniest thing about Shandling's performance throughout "What Planet are you From?" is that he reacts to everything thrown at him in such a logical manner. For example, in one scene Susan is upset with Harold for watching television rather than paying attention to her. She hurls the remote against the wall, smashing it. Harold immediately decides to purchase a new remote, which further infuriates Susan. She then shouts "Fine, just go!" Harold promptly nods his head and leaves. Annette Bening is perfectly cast as Susan, managing somehow to look hassled, angry, and deeply confused all at once. She also manages to save Shandling at times when his lack of experience in a leading role begins to show. The supporting cast is, in fact, one of the best things about this film. Greg Kinnear ("Mystery Men", "As Good as it Gets") is perfect as the king of sleaze balls everywhere. Ben Kingsley ("Species", "Schindler's List") is a great choice as the straight as an arrow ruler of Anderson's planet, though he is a bit underused. John Goodman ("The Big Lebowski"), who I believe is one of the best comic actors in Hollywood, is hilarious in his role as the one man who thinks he knows the truth. One of the biggest problems I had with the film was that Goodman was so underused that his character seemed rather pointless. Linda Fiorentino ("Dogma") makes a brief appearance as Kinnear's wife, and Janeane Garofolo shows up in a cameo as an airline passenger. The film may not make a whole lot of sense, since we are never told just how Anderson's impregnating a woman will bring about the downfall of the species, but plot isn't exactly the point here. While "What Planet are you From?" manages to keep the humor going through the majority of its length, things do get a bit too sappy and sentimental towards the end. If it had been trimmend down some from its 112 minute running time I probably would have given it four stars. One last thing I must note is that Annette Bening plays a real-estate agent in the film ("American Beauty", anyone?). For a very funny script, a surprisingly good turn by Garry Shandling, and a great supporting cast, I give "What Planet are you From?" three and a half out of five stars. Comments? Feel free to e-mail them to: johnbeachem@dependentfilms.net For past reviews, movie news, and other fun stuff, visit: http://www.dependentfilms.net * * * * * - One of the greatest movies ever made, see it now. * * * * - Great flick, try and catch this one. * * * - Okay movie, hits and misses. * * - Pretty bad, see it only if you've got nothing better to do. * - One of the worst movies ever made. See it only if you enjoy pain. From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Mar 8 12:13:06 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!uio.no!arclight.uoregon.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: sidspaced@aol.com (Lars Lindahl) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 8 Mar 2000 07:20:25 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Lines: 61 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <8a4uvp$cj40$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer21.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 952500025 412800 (None) 140.142.17.37 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23467 Keywords: author=lindahl X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer21.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22558 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2639 Review by Lars Lindahl "What Planet Are You From?" (2000) Directed by Mike Nichols Written by Michael Leeson, Garry Shandling, Ed Solomon, and Peter Tolan Starring Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, Greg Kinnear, Ben Kingsley, Linda Fiorentino, and John Goodman. What Planet Are You From? can be divided into three distinct segments. First we follow alien Harold Anderson (Garry Shandling) on his mission to impregnate a woman on earth. Far and away the funniest segment of the film (despite the fact that it is one long extended joke), it remains consistently amusing. We don't know exactly why he is trying to woo an earth woman but it is still funny. The dialogue is fresh, the characters are well introduced, and the premise is original. The most hilarious and ironic joke of this segment is that this clueless alien, just trying to complete a revolutionary mission for his planet is indistinguishable from some obnoxious earth jerk just trying to score. For this reason, Harold finds himself interacting and bonding with sexist perverts such as Perry (Greg Kinnear) at his fake job. His relationship with these characters makes up the second segment of the film. At this point, What Planet? begins to lose some of its fresh humor and originality as it shifts from Harold's desperate search to succeed for his planet to a disappointing who's-sleeping-with-who-and-why ensemble piece. The segment contains way too many pointless side stories that would have made the movie better if they did not exist at all. Who cares if Perry and Harold are competing for a vice president position at their job? Or if the man trying to find out exactly who Harold is (John Goodman) is having marital problems at home? The answers to these questions only distract the viewer from the central point. The third segment has Harold taking the next step by marrying a former alcoholic, Susan, (Annette Bening) in hopes of improving his chances to have a child. There are some very memorable scenes between Susan and Harold, but these pleasant moments surprisingly lead up to one of the most idiotic endings I've seen in a long time. The characters become excessively cartoonish and, out of nowhere, the script gives them extremely foolish lines. It gets mushy and overly dramatic in some areas and way too slapstick in other areas. It almost seems like a different screenwriter or director contributed at this point with completely opposite ideas of how the characters should act and talk. When examining the film as a whole, it is a disappointment, because only one segment is totally satisfying. Despite some lively performances from the talented cast, the script does not have enough energy to keep up. It seems like there was only one real joke within What Planet? and that joke was quickly overused just as the first segment was ending. If only the movie was a 40 minute short in which Harold gets the girl, has sex, gets the girl pregnant, and leaves. It might have worked, and if not, the short would have been a lot better than the real thing, a 120 minute movie that didn't work. For true entertainment in which aliens pretend to be humans with hilarious consequences, watch Third Rock from the Sun. It's amazing how that show has been funny for years now using the same joke that What Planet Are You From? couldn't make funny for two hours. Grade: ** (out of four stars) Lars Attacks! http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/larsattacks From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Mar 8 12:13:09 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeed.direct.ca!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: "Sean P. Molloy" Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 8 Mar 2000 07:20:16 GMT Organization: None Lines: 177 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <8a4uvg$cj3s$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> Reply-To: NNTP-Posting-Host: homer38.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 952500016 412796 (None) 140.142.17.35 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23466 Keywords: author=molloy X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Importance: Normal Originator: grahams@homer38.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22560 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2640 What Planet Are You From? (1/2* out of ****) Starring Garry Shandling, Annette Bening Directed By Mike Nichols Columbia Pictures, Rated R, 2000 Running Time: 1 Hour 40 Minutes By Sean Molloy [MEDIUM SPOILERS] When I watch a movie like Mike Nichols' What Planet Are You From? I can't help but feel like everyone is looking at me. It's as if all the audience is gazing at the back of my head in the darkness, eyes shooting daggers, quietly blaming me for the fact that they paid hard-earned money to spend their time watching this... this... thing. I shift uncomfortably in my seat. I'm reminded of how I feel when I see a pair of second- or third-rate celebrities engaging in a teleprompted "funny" conversation to introduce the next Blockbuster award. It's not my fault, I know it's not my fault, but dammit, someone's gotta be embarrassed, because it doesn't look like anyone on the screen is ready to take the blame. I'm about to give you a list of names of people who are gonna make a movie together: Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, John Goodman, Greg Kinnear, Mike Nichols. Do any of these names make you instantly shudder? The answer I would have come up with before today is no, this is quite a list of talented individuals we've got here. Granted, John Goodman was in The Flintstones, and Greg Kinnear has turned in some less-than-lackluster leading man performances in certified failures like A Smile Like Yours, but even so, they've got proven power as excellent supporting players. Garry Shandling has two television classics under his belt, his ingenious little It's Garry Shandling's Show and The Larry Sanders Show. And for God's sake, Mike Nichols directed The Graduate, and Annette Bening is just walking away from American Beauty. So explain this... this... thing. What Planet Are You From? purports to be a comedy exploring the relationship between men and women satirizing the whole pop-psychology Mars/Venus phenomenon. But what this movie winds up being is a collection of unfunny cringe-inducing moments coupled with uninsightful cringe-inducing moments; the end result is, unsurprisingly, an unfunny, uninsightful, cringe-inducing, thoroughly icky embarrassment. Garry Shandling plays an alien from a planet populated by technologically advanced but emotionally vacant males (they reproduce through cloning, of course). His leaders put a select group of males through a series of tests designed to determine which one is most fit to fly off to Earth, find a female of the species, and impregnate her. They're taught how to pretend that they're listening by nodding and saying "uh-huh," and how to compliment shoes. Imagine my delighted surprise when, oh heavens, all their carefully practiced tactics turn out to fail miserably, producing comedic results! The lucky winner is fitted with a penis (since theirs, after generations of disuse have long since shrunk out of existence... I will restrain myself from mentioning the implausibility of such a scenario since the population has stopped evolving due to the fact that they're all just clones... whoops, too late.) The penis, when aroused, tends to make a humming noise. The writers, when frequently strapped for ideas, tend to turn to this as a source of "comedy." It isn't funny the first time. It isn't funny the eighth time. It isn't funny the eighteenth time. If anything, it made me feel vaguely self-conscious. Garry meets up with a coworker at a bank played by Greg Kinnear, who turns out to be a generic, unlikable scumbag. He's meant to fill the part of unfortunate role model for Shandling's alien character, but he's so flatly drawn that even the writers quickly give up and toss him aside. Kinnear's scumbagginess is demonstrated by the fact that he claims other peoples' work as his own to worm his way into a Vice Presidents' position and goes to AA meetings to pick up chicks. Wow. What a magnificent bastard. Nearly every man in the movie, in fact, is played as the same sort of sex-driven slimeball. When Kinnear's wife walks into the office, there isn't a single guy who doesn't trip, bump into a wall, or otherwise pratfall as if they'd never seen a woman before. The few guys that aren't particularly slimeballs, such as John Goodman's detective character, are simply uncommunicative workaholics. Shandling meets up with Annette Bening, who will inevitably prove to be the love he never knew existed, at one of Kinnear's AA meetings. Shandling's mission is to have a baby, and when he reveals his desires to her, Bening instantly falls for him, and the next day... they get married. Yup. The next day. Cuz ya see, it turns out she wants a baby too! Bening's character perhaps was the most difficult to watch, especially after seeing her come apart at the seams so effectively in American Beauty... if her character here is supposed to be representing the female of the species as a whole, then woe, I say, to the species. She's unfathomably insecure, and succumbs so easily to all of Shandling's lines and lies that it borders on tragic. There's a point where, after thinking she may not be able to bear children, she learns that she is indeed pregnant. When Garry comes home after nearly cheating on her, she strolls into the kitchen and sings "High Hopes" (you know, the uplifting ant and the rubber tree plant song) to deliver the news, and then says to him, "now you can't leave me." We're supposed to empathize with Shandling's discovery of the feeling of "guilt," but instead I wanted to weep for Bening that she was placing her entire life and soul firmly in the lap of a great big nothing. And eventually, Shandling falls in love with her... for real, I suppose, though I'm not sure exactly what prompted it. What's the message I derive from all this? Men are liars, inherently empty creatures, but if you hang around long enough... well, maybe something will click. Ha ha... ha? I'm thankful such broad cynicism isn't frequently allowed to run so rampant. Let's all join hands and pray that the planet these folks are from is not this one. There's also a subplot involving John Goodman as an airline incident investigator that wades in the bog of stupidity. Goodman, through a series of astoundingly implausible realizations, puts together the fact that Shandling is a being from another world with a magic, vibrating penis. It has all the makings for a subplot of having Shandling be discovered, that, thankfully, never comes to the inevitable hackneyed fruition. Instead, it just dangles limply on the branch for a while, withers, and falls away. Further proof that Goodman should just stick to doing Coen Brothers movies. But let's not dwell on this any longer, I've already wasted plenty of your time and my own. Let's move on, forget about what we've seen here, and get on with our lives. And to help us out, let's end things on a happy note... Congratuations go out to Annette Bening, winner of this week's "Title!" award, for delivering the awkward line of dialog containing the movie's name. Way to go, Annette! _____________ Media Junkies - Movies, music, books, games, and more http://www.mediajunkies.com E-mail: sean@mediajunkies.com From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Mar 13 12:46:19 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeed.direct.ca!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams ~From: Homer Yen ~Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews ~Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies ~Date: 10 Mar 2000 05:28:35 GMT Organization: None ~Lines: 88 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <8aa163$7te$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer14.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 952666115 8110 (None) 140.142.17.37 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23485 Keywords: author=yen X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer14.u.washington.edu ~Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22564 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2641 "What Planet Are You From?" -- Cosmic Stupidity by Homer Yen (c) 2000 "Planet" is so bad, it's actually kind of funny. I'm not recommending this film, but in the right frame of mind (the frame of mind that develops after a couple of beers), this might actually be an acceptable 90 minute diversion. There is a gentle sweetness that resides deep beneath the film's core. But be warned - even Forrest Gump would find this movie dumb. "Planet's" premise is about an advanced world that is populated by only men. Led by the stonefaced Ben Kingsley, this race has bred out emotions and has even evolved beyond the need for genitalia. Their agenda involves conquering other worlds not through interstellar battle, but through a more subversive method of breeding. One man (Garry Shandling) will be sent to Earth to begin colonization. He'll be 'equipped' with the right tool to carry out his task. And to prepare for his encounter with Earth women, he is trained to say all the right things. But just what are the right things to say? And even more pressing, how will the organ-deprived alien accomplish his mission of impregnating some unsuspecting Earth woman? The answers set the pace of this wry comedy, which for better or worse, will undoubtedly make you roll your eyes and groan with chagrin. To prep Shandling, one lesson teaches him to nod in approval and say 'uh-huh' when a female is talking. Another lesson teaches him to start conversations with pick-up lines. He says things like "Can I have your autograph. You ARE Miss America, aren't you?" (this is where we roll our eyes and groan). Of course, Earth girls aren't easy, and this baffles our alien to no end. Shandling's perpetual look of childlike indecisiveness suits him well here. He represents the common man who is ill-prepared to meet women. The other comedic element focuses on his organ-deprived body. Genitalia is attached to his body (there is no male frontal nudity), but when he gets in the mood, there is this disconcerting humming noise that begins. This joke is revisited countless times, and now we're rolling our eyes and groaning again. Certainly, his task is not an easy one. He's armed with lame pick-up lines, has a humming problem, becomes friends with a selfish scoundrel (Greg Kinnear) and eventually attracts the attention of a government official (John Goodman) who believes that he's not quite of this planet. The audience's task of staying the course is no less daunting. The movie finally picks up a bit with the introduction of Annette Benning as a recovering alcoholic who has been completely unlucky in love. But by this time, the original premise has run out of ideas, and the movie switches gears and becomes an awkward lesson about the fears of commitment and responsibility. "Planet" could have been a much funnier movie. It needed to focus more on the man-versus-woman foibles rather than shifting the focus to the less funny issue of commitment. Still, the movie itself is not terrible, and admittedly, it made me chuckle a few times when I wasn't rolling my eyes. If nothing else, it certainly provided the best one-liner. Stately Ben Kingsley stares at the prosaic-looking John Goodman with a deadpan eye and says, "You look intelligent, but when you open your mouth, the effect is spoiled!" If you get any satisfaction from watching this movie, it'll be because you like Annette Benning (who gives a fine performance), or because you generally believe that all men are from Mars and that this movie will confirm all of your suspicions. Grade: C S: 2 (some frontal nudity and scenes involving heavy breathing) V: 1 (one punch and a bloodless gunshot) L: 1 (mostly biological terms) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Mar 20 12:46:54 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!nntp.primenet.com!nntp.gctr.net!feeder.qis.net!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: "Steve Rhodes" Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 17 Mar 2000 03:15:45 GMT Organization: Internet Reviews Lines: 75 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <8as811$hvtq$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer35.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 953262945 589754 (None) 140.142.17.38 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23542 Keywords: author=rhodes X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer35.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22615 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2656 WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): *** "I like your shoes, and you smell nice too," H1449-6 a.k.a. Harold Anderson (Garry Shandling) uses as his favorite come-on line to the women he meets. Harold is on a wham-bamm-thank-you-ma'am assignment from his planet. He has been fitted with a penis (an organ not extant on his home planet) so that he can impregnate a female earthling. Mike Nichols' WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? is a good-spirited little comedy that takes its audience from smiles to snickers to big laughs as it pokes fun at human philosophy, emotion and sexuality. If this unique show has any roots it is as a social satire version of 1984 but set in the future. The script by Garry Shandling and Michael Leeson is full of smartly-written, bone-dry humor. ("You appear intelligent, but when you open your mouth, the effect is spoiled," is one of the film's typically acute observations.) Initially, Harold has a terrible time getting a woman to have sex with him. His first strike-out is with a blonde bimbo stewardess, who might appear to be a sure thing. "My boyfriend once told me it was like trying to start a dead car," she tells him, while naked, but frozen, in bed next to him. Harold goes to work at a bank at which Perry Gordon (Greg Kinnear) works. Perry, in shades of FIGHT CLUB, takes the ever-horny Harold to an AA meeting as a way for them to pick up women. (Perry's wife is played by Linda Fiorentino, who wears some killer outfits. Perhaps the hardest thing to believe in the movie is why anyone would cheat on her.) As alcoholics get up to testify, Harold sets his eye on a charming ex-drunk named Susan (Annette Bening in another turn as a real-estate agent). Susan is a walking mission statement full of new age philosophies. Her current goal in life is to get to know herself better so that she can focus less on herself and more on others. Her dresser has icons from all of the world's major religions. She is mentally noshing on them until she finds one that she likes. The once promiscuous Susan has given up sex until after marriage, so Harold agrees to tie the knot with her as a necessary prerequisite to procreation. "You're marrying a woman you haven't had sex with?" Perry asks Greg in absolute astonishment. "Aren't you scared? Didn't you see THE CRYING GAME?" The film's on-going joke is that Harold's penis hums loudly when he is sexually aroused, which is often. Sounding like a cross between an electric pencil sharpener and a small hand-held fan, his organ hums loudly, which is taken as merely an eccentric oddity by his would-be conquests. The rest of the wonderful cast includes John Goodman, as a bumbling but persistent FAA investigator, and Ben Kingsley, as the no-nonsense leader of H1449-6's planet. With squeaky clean sets and a wry sense of humor, the film has jokes that get funnier the more you think about them. Although it's not a message movie, the story has more than its share of commentary on how ridiculous we human beings can be. In a movie with many good scenes, my favorite is when Harold picks up his naked baby boy and threatens to use the baby as a weapon. "This thing's gonna blow!" he warns attacking soldiers from his planet. And as anyone who has ever held a baby knows, he isn't kidding. WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? runs 1:40. It is rated R for sexuality and language and would be acceptable for older teenagers. Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Mar 20 12:47:15 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!nntp.primenet.com!nntp.gctr.net!newsin.iconnet.net!netnews.com!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: Ross Anthony Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet are you from? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 17 Mar 2000 03:16:12 GMT Organization: RossAnthony.com Lines: 49 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <8as81s$7m66$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> Reply-To: "ross@rossanthony.com" NNTP-Posting-Host: homer18.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 953262972 252102 (None) 140.142.17.40 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23546 Keywords: author=anthony X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer18.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22619 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2657 Harold the Alien-Hearted What Planet are you from? By Ross Anthony Admittedly, I love Garry Shandling. For those of you who don't appreciate his wry sense of humor and constipation-faced guise; well, probably you're better off missing this one. But for those to whom the name Garry Shandling means nothing, go see it. It's funny. It's light-hearted, and best of all you'll leave the theater feeling good. Oh, one more warning: There's quite a bit of comedic play on not-necessarily-flattering male/female stereotypes. But remember this is a comedy. And of course, there's the sexual humor. But again, this is a film about an alien (Shandling) who comes to Earth with one mission and one mission only ... impregnate an earthling woman. That said, one might expect a silly script of "Mel Brooks" quality starring unknowns or at best B-comics. The great thing about "What Planet are you from?" is that it stars high-powered actors like Bening and Kinnear. And Shandling's just as strong. Not only that, but the script is sharper, cleaner and oddly has a lot of heart: Bustin' your gut while still managing to tighten up your throat. I liked it a lot. What Planet are you from? Copyright © 2000. Rated R. Starring Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, Greg Kinnear, Ben Kingsley, Linda Fiorentino And John Goodman. Directed by Mike Nichols. Screenplay by Garry Shandling & Michael Leeson and Ed Solomon and Peter Tolan Story By Garry Shandling & Michael Leeson. Produced By Mike Nichols, Garry Shandling and Neil Machlis At Columbia. Grade..........................A- -- Copyright © 2000. Ross Anthony, currently based in Los Angeles, has scripted and shot documentaries, music videos, and shorts in 35 countries across North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. For more reviews visit: http://RossAnthony.com From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Mar 20 12:47:18 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!nntp.primenet.com!nntp.gctr.net!feeder.via.net!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: "Rose 'Bams' Cooper" Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 17 Mar 2000 03:33:02 GMT Organization: '3 Black Chicks Review...' Lines: 135 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <8as91e$hvr2$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer22.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 953263982 589666 (None) 140.142.17.38 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23563 Keywords: author=cooper X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu User-Agent: MT-NewsWatcher/3.0 (PPC) URL: http://www.3blackchicks.com/ Originator: grahams@homer22.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22630 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2658 '3 Black Chicks Review...' What Planet Are You From? (2000) Rated R; running time 100 minutes Genre: Comedy IMDB site: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0181151 Official site: http://www.sony.com/whatplanet/ Written by: Michael Leeson (based on a story by Garry Shandling) Directed by: Michael Leeson Starring: Garry Shandling, Annette Benning, John Goodman, Greg Kinnear, Ben Kingsley, Linda Fiorentino, Anne Cusack, Camryn Manheim, Nora Dunn, Caroline Aaron, Richard Jenkins, Samantha Smith, Janeane Garofalo Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 Review URL: http://www.3blackchicks.com/bamsplanet.html When I realized last week that my travelling to New Orleans for Mardi Gras would mean that I'd miss the opening weekend for What Planet Are You From (hereby known as WPAYF), I breathed a sign of relief. Unlike the hoards who thought Garry Shandling's HBO and FOX TV shows were funny, I avoided them like nobody's business; I couldn't get past his looking too much like a giant weasel. And the premise behind WPAYF just screamed to me, "Girl, don't go see this goofy sh...tuff". Still, I had a few extra hours on my hands Sunday; and besides, I reasoned with myself, if you ignore Shandling, it's got a very talented supporting cast in Annette Benning, John Goodman, Ben Kingsley, and Linda Fiorentino. What could go wrong? Then I remembered "Random Mess" and "Stupornova" - and crossed my fingers... The Story (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**): WPAYF takes the "Men Are From Mars" concept to another level: Harold Anderson (Gary Shandling) is a brother from another planet - a planet of men with no penis [shudder]. It should come as no surprise, then, that these dickless men wish to conquer another planet - and which planet would that be? Three guesses; and the first two are wrong. After putting his planet's men through semi-intensive training on the ways of Earth women, hoping that they'd be Easy, fearless leader Graydon (Ben Kingsley) picks Harold as their man. His mission: grab his attachable penis, get an Earth Girl knocked up, and something or another mumble mumble about the new superbaby...oh yeah, it will become Supreme! Ruler! Of! Earth! A few things get in the way first, though; mainly, his lame lines fail to impress many women - including a Flight Attendant (Samantha Smith) he met on the way to Earth - that is, until he meets Susan Hart (Annette Benning), who he figures just might be The One. Finding a job at a bank while he's waiting for the child thingy to resolve itself, he also has to deal with his slimy sycophant co-work Perry Gordon (Greg Kinnear), their boss Don Fisk (Richard Jenkins), and FAA inspector Roland Jones (John Goodman), who is committed to proving to his bosses that Harold is from somewhere way the hell out there. The Upshot: As did "The Whole Nine Yards", WPAYF started out slow(ly) and picked up steam as it went along, with some very funny scenes along the way. What really worked about it for me is the sense of fun the characters and actors seemed to have with each other, from Susan kickin' it with her girlfriends Liz (Anne Cusack), Alison (Camryn Manheim), and Madeline (Nora Dunn) to the comic interplay between Shanning and the surprisingly funny Benning - and especially Goodman, one of the funniest Big Men in Hollywood - the laughs were easily drawn out of me, even I as sat there determined not to laugh at this movie. That lasted for about 15 minutes - right up to the point where Mr. Happy starting humming. After that, I was done for. The feel of this comedy is very "Raising Arizona"-ish; stretching the see-through lines men often troll on women - and the hook-line-and-sinker way women often respond to them - to a comic extreme, you quickly see, through Harold's eyes, just how silly the Battle Between The Sexes really is. But even after the Obligatory Alien-Develops-Human-Feelings bit, the "yes, dear" relationship, in all its familiarity, seems somehow comforting; at least it did for this old married chick. I do, however, take slight issue with what I see as two casting flaws, one of character choices, the other, miscast actors. The character most out-of-place here was Helen Gordon, played to her smoky best by Linda Fiorentino; though Ms. F. did no real wrong in her role, her character seemed to be an unnecessary distraction, an appendage to "prove" how Bad Perry was (not that he needed the help). Still, she delivered one of the best lines of the movie (and since it was featured in its commercials, I'm not giving away anything here): when Harold tells her that the humming sound she heard was coming from his penis, she says, "I guess it doesn't know the words". Rollin', I tell ya; absolutely rollin'. The second, more problematic, casting flaw involves Janeane Garofalo; as was done in Dogma, she was included here in a glorified cameo as a nervous airline passenger used as a target for more of Harold's Intro To Earth bit. WPAYF's Powers That Be would've done far better to cast her as Roland's wife Nadine, and her part minor played instead by Caroline Aaron (the actor who actually played Nadine Jones). Nothing against Aaron, but I had no idea why she was trippin' so tight over Roland just doin' his thang; but you can bet your bippy that if Garafolo had gotten her hooks into Nadine, comedic sparks would've flown between her and Goodman. There's nothing - nothing, I say! - at all Deep about WPAYF; it certainly won't be up for anyone's "Best Of" lists at the end of the year, to say the least. But in a year (so far) where damn near every movie seems to be striving for inclusion on "Worst Of", you could do much worse than to spend 100 minutes of your time with a few good bellylaughs and a chuckle or three. Bammer's Bottom Line: Yeah, I know: I'm as shocked as you probably are to see me give WPAYF a greenlight (especially since I only gave its soulmate, last year's Galaxy Quest, a conditional yellow). Hey, every Chick can be wrong once, eh? "What Planet Are You From?" (rating: greenlight): Even if Garry Shandling does look like a giant weasel. 3 Black Chicks...Movie Reviews With Flava! /~\ Rose "Bams" Cooper /','\ 3BlackChicks Enterprises /','`'\ Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 /',',','/`, EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com ICQ: 7760005 `~-._'c / http://www.3blackchicks.com/ `\ ( http://www.dealpilot.com/?partner=1987 /====\ From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Mar 27 12:27:16 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!skynet.be!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news.crhc.uiuc.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!hardy.tc.umn.edu!news.nero.net!news.uidaho.edu!sea-feed.news.verio.net!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: Jamey Hughton Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: What Planet Are You From? (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 23 Mar 2000 05:44:23 GMT Organization: University of Washington Lines: 100 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <8bcavn$fnac$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> Reply-To: bhughton@sk.sympatico.ca NNTP-Posting-Host: homer24.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 953790263 515404 (None) 140.142.17.37 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #23672 Keywords: author=hughton X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer24.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:22743 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2668 WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? **1/2 (out of four stars) A review by Jamey Hughton Starring-Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, Greg Kinnear, John Goodman, Ben Kingsley and Linda Fiorentino Director-Mike Nichols Canadian Rating-14A Released by Columbia Pictures - 03/00 MOVIE VIEWS by Jamey Hughton http://Welcome.to/MovieViews After a wearisome floating space disclaimer akin to the “Star Wars” movies, the alien sex comedy “What Planet Are You From?” changes its setting to an environment that many audience members will likely find disturbing. In a futuristic auditorium on a distant planet, there is row-upon-row of men. These men seem to be the sole inhabitants of a planet which has focused their highly advanced technology on a universal takeover. Their latest target is Earth. One chosen member of the alien colony is to travel to Earth, whereupon he will impregnate a single female with his extraterrestrial seed so that the hostile takeover may commence. The lucky guy is H1449-6 (Garry Shandling), who will adopt the name Harry Anderson and be given a special reproductive attachment to fulfill his mission. An unexpected side effect: when excited, Harry’s genitalia hums. And so marks the basis of this loosely amusing but scattershot and disorderly comedy from veteran director Mike Nichols, who previously pulled a comedic ace out of his sleeve with “The Birdcage” in 1996. “What Planet Are You From?” is a pet project that Shandling has been nursing for four years, and with such an array of versatile talent involved, the film itself is more than a trifle underwhelming. Although it boasts some hearty belly laughs and a generally sweet and warmhearted nature, “What Planet Are You From?” leaves the chalky residue of a movie that fails to meet its original promise. The film is mundane and watery, but once you’re in the presence of its harmless approach of genial nonchalance, you’ll find it agreeable just the same. The cast certainly tweaks the curiosity. Once on Earth, Harry’s sleazy co-worker Perry Gordon (Greg Kinnear) takes him to an AA meeting to scope the chicks. Susan Hart (Annette Bening), a free-spirited soul attempting to start again from square one in the relationship circle, is the woman he meets there. Now, back on his distant home planet, Harry was lectured in the proper methods to pick up an Earth woman (so that he may impregnate her later, of course). These methods include “telling the Earth female she smells nice” and “complimenting her on her stylish shoes.” Once he finds himself in the heat of the battle, Harry discovers that smooth-talking a lady isn’t as elementary as perhaps anticipated. Watching side-splitting sequences such as Harry and Susan’s first date are like rainbow sprinkles dispersed over this otherwise bland vanilla concoction, because Shandling’s perfected sense of comic timing is given time to shine. It’s unfortunate that there isn’t more screen time dedicated to these bare essentials; instead, Nichols’ and company sculpt the film into a feel-good drama. And multiple subplots weave through the central plot, including the infatuation of Federal Aviation Agent Roland Jones (John Goodman), who is very much onto Harry. Even when it does shift gears into a light romantic comedy, featuring Harry developing human emotions, “What Planet Are You From?” is sweet and innocuous. But at the same time, it feels oddly detached and careless, like it was assembled by chimpanzees equipped with scotch tape. Numerous loose ends are never tied up, and the screenplay frequently declines the opportunity to chart further into the realm of comedic possibilities. Luckily, the enjoyable supporting cast is full of bright and enjoyable faces. Kinnear reverses personalities and is fun as the arrogant jerk, while Goodman and Ben Kingsley (as the leader of the alien race) offer reliable support. The only certified shame is the thorough waste of Linda Fiorentino (“Dogma”), who plays Perry’s alluring wife in a mere window dressing role. Believe it or not, Shandling and Bening actually make a cute couple. The lack of progress achieved with his character is neutralized by Bening’s lively, lovable performance, and the pair together spark a sensation of innocent charm. They amplify the otherwise rickety second half of “What Planet Are You From?” to enjoyable romantic fluff. In certain spots, it’s also laugh-out-loud funny... so collectively, why does “Planet” unhinge? It would be the overdose of humming penis jokes if that particular sight gag wasn’t fresh and inspired. No, it’s the fact that the film seems to be puttering along without a piece of its own anatomy... this one being closer to the heart. The only otherworldly aspect of “What Planet Are You From?” is that, with such a terrific cast and experienced director, the finished product isn’t funnier. © 2000, Jamey Hughton MOVIE VIEWS by Jamey Hughton http://Welcome.to/MovieViews Your Comments Appreciated! movieviews@hotmail.com