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Actors: Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, Gary Kinnear, Ben Kingsley, John Goodman
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about What Planet Are You From |
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More than one exalted reviewer has panned Mike Nichols' 2000 fantasy by giving it zero stars! Could they have missed the point of comic Garry Shandling's hilarious debut role as well as four other outstanding performances with countless perfectly timed one-liners?
A refreshing treatment of an old idea, the film shows alien Shandling earning a mission to impregnate an Earth female as his all-male planet is losing its ability to clone. Their leader, Graydon (Kingsley) uses holograms to prepare his expressionless “Stepford Men” to flatter Earth women and to appease them by repeatedly murmuring, “uh-huh.”
"Intensively trained,” Garry arrives in Phoenix as banker Harold Anderson. Totally unprepared for human conflict, his well-rehearsed pickup lines repeatedly flop, “can I have your autograph; you're Miss America, aren't you.”
Competing with viperous co-worker Perry (Kinnear) for women and a VP opening, Harold accompanies him to an AA meeting where “sobbing women are easy prey.” He meets Susan (Bening) a realtor, to whom he immediately declares that he was, “put here to have a child.” Perceiving this admission as rare male honesty and sensitivity, Susan accepts Harold's marriage proposal. While the couple tries vigorously to conceive, Susan realizes too late that Harold lacks human emotion and screams, “what planet are YOU from?”
But Harold's response to their newborn convinces him that conflict and emotion and good things. As the enlightened couple renew their wedding vows to a reggae version of “High Hopes,” it becomes clear to the guests from both planets that, “the (entire) universe is indeed one screwed-up place”
--Angry Jim Magin, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of What Planet Are You From |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzle - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
**Fantasy or Science Fiction?**
- fantasy story on present day Earth
Romance
Yes
Parody movie?
Yes
Human/Magical couple?
Yes
Main Character
Identity:
- male alien
Profession/status:
- business executive
Age:
- 40's-50's
Has special powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character:
- can fly
- teleportation
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Body type
- average (man)
Unclothed?
- Full Frontal
Events of movie makes character more...
- caring
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor?
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- red
Hair style
- (woman) short/butch/lez
Body type
- very skinny (female)
Unclothed?
- chest
How much in movie?
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- an entire race
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 20%
Body type
- average (man)
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Setting
Earth setting:
- 20th century (1970's to Present)
A substantial portion of this movie takes place on a non-Earth planetary body:
- humans in a futuristic society
- unfriendly aliens
- very controlled society
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Planet outside our solar system?
Yes
Takes place in spaceship?
Yes
In Space?
- black hole
Big cities?
Yes
Misc settings
- bar/restaurant
Kind of city
- Beautiful sparkling advanced city
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- explicit references to deaths
Comedy or somewhat funny movie?
Yes
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- kissing
- impregnation/reproduction
- actual description of sex
- seeing breasts
- seeing nude male butt
- seeing full frontal--men
- sex under blankets
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
Kinds of F/X
- exotic big cities
- exotic alien landscape
If Soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Modern rock/pop
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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