WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM?

By: Steve Biodrowski
Date: Thursday, March 02, 2000

WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? is not without its virtues, but considering the stellar talent involved it must be reckoned a disappiontment of cosmic proportions. The basic premise (an alien comes to Earth to impregnante a human woman) seems like fertile ground for genre parody, but the film, paradoxically, aims both higher and lower: on the one hand, it wants to be a sophisticated satire on male-female relationsips; on the other, it doesn't mind sinking to the juvenile level of a running gag about the alien's humming penis.

The script (co-written by Garry Shandling, who also stars) has its share of funny jokes, and Shandling is an able actor in the lead. His confusion over the subtleties of Earth behavior (despite rigorous training, his character is still remarkably naive) is wonderfully rendered through rolling eyes and self-conscious mannerisms that often bring laughs. Annette Bening, John Goodman, and Ben Kingsley lend solid support. Kingsley in particular is impressive: his humorless demeanor as the alien leader makes him the perfect straight-man foil for Shandling, and he gets the film's biggest laugh (regarding a somewhat exaggerated boast that his incredible brain power is capable of overcoming any pain and healing any wound). Greg Kinnear also etches a nice portrait of a selfish male pig--sort of the Earthling equivalent of what Shandling's character needs to be in order to accomplish his mission. But the always excellent Linda Fiorentino is given too little to do in a relatively thankless role as Kinnear's wife; nevertheless, her few scenes are some of the best in the film.

With all this going for it, what went wrong? It's hard to say. The basic idea of the film is a good one: men and women often seem to act as if from different planets, so why not take that metaphor and make it literal? Somehow, however, the film never lives up to the brilliance of its own premise. Too much of it is silly when it should be biting, and the silliness undermines the attempts to wring genuinely moving emotions from the characters. These contradictory elements throw off the pace, making the film feel lumpy and uneven. Additionally, the film seems as if it's trying to be a romanticized version of MEN IN BLACK, sharing such names in the credits as the aforementioned Fiorentino, not mention Bo Welch (production design) and Ed Solomon (co-screenwriter). Even the music attempts to mimic some of the playful energy and tongue-in-cheek melodrama of Danny Elfman's score for MIB, but the mixture is all wrong, like a cake that never sets.


Director Mike Nichols has done great work in the past, but this film will not rank high on his resume. He has a knack for combining comedy and drama, for finding humor without ever undermining the serious of the situation. This, however, is a film that needed a little undermining. Frivolous and lightweight, it needed the zestful handling of a Richard Lester or a Blake Edwards, who would have milked the potential for slapstick and sightgags, and left the serious aspirations to the side--not discarding them but not letting them overpower the comedy either. It's okay for a funny movie to have a serious idea lying underneath, but keep it underneath the comedy. Don't let it fool you into thinking you're doing Moliere when you're really doing Monty Python.

WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? A Columbia Pictures release, March 3, 2000. Director Mike Nichols. Producers Mike Nichols, Garry Shandling. Screenplay Garry Shandling & Michael Leeson and Ed Solomon and Peter Tolan. Cinematographer Michael Ballhaus. Editor Richard Marks. Costumes Ann Roth. Music Carter Burwell. Production design Bo Welch. Art director Tom Duffield. Set decorator Cheryl Carasik. Running time: 100 mins. Rated R. Starring: Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, John Goodman, Greg Kinnear, Ben Kingsley, Linda Fiorentino

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