Hey folks, Harry here with the first report from our super-powered jigsaw covered superspy... ENIGMA BOY. Being a boy that is hard to figure out, he has set out to be a long term AICN regular and supersnoop. Next from him will be a review of the GONE IN 60 SECONDS script... which should end up being very different from the final film... what with all the on set dialogue changing as well as the antics on that set. But this summer, I've heard that Enigma Boy will become the lap puppy of Moriarty, who will mold him into becoming Joe Farrell's latest superheadache. Muhahahahahahaaaa. Here's report number one...
Yo Harry! Enigma Boy here, using my brand name. You may know me better as the kid from the Metreon Friday night 'Meet and Greet' that you did. Now, I’m not sure if this is the right e-mail address to send reviews to, so if it’s not, let me know. Anyhoo, I was thinking about writing that review of the script of “Gone in 60 Seconds,” and I will, but first I wanna talk about tonight’s sneak preview of “What Planet Are You From?”
WARNING! There are SPOILERS below, but I’ll try to limit them.
“What Planet Are You From?” is the kind of movie that must be reviewed under the question “Is it funny?” Well, I guess so. I laughed, and that constitutes humor, and I enjoyed a great deal of it, but it has a whole bunch of flaws that I can’t dismiss from my mind. The plot, fortunately, is fun enough to sit through, despite its clichéd ideas. Garry Shandling, playing an alien (identified only as a number) from a planet that is all men who have no emotions or reproductive organs, has a whole lot of fun with the role that he wrote for himself. He is the alien picked to go down to Earth and impregnate a woman under the pseudonym Harold Anderson. These orders are given by Ben Kingsley, and his idea for this, of course, is world domination. This reversal of the roles from “Species” is fun enough, but now it’s time for the problems.
For starters, Greg Kinnear is totally wasted as Harold’s asshole co-worker. He does nothing, and his role means diddly shit to the overall story. Sure, without him there would be plot holes, but give this guy a chance to shine, people. C’mon, where’s the guy from “As Good As It Gets” that I know and love? What up?! Doesn’t an Oscar nomination get people anywhere these days?
Next, a couple jokes get so overused that it becomes fucking annoying! I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say that there is one bit throughout the entire movie that NEVER STOPS! Sure, it was funny the first 20 times, but it just gets pounded into our heads, giving me a headache bigger than the one I had after realizing that I COULDN’T GO TO HARRY’S GLADIATOR SCREENING THURSDAY! Trust me, you will know which joke I am referring to.
Next, the direction. No, there is nothing wrong with the way the actors were directed, or most of the visuals, but it could have been done by anybody. During the film, I almost forgot it was directed by “the” Mike Nichols, Mr. Graduate, Mr. Virginia Woolf, Mr. Primary Colors! Rob Reiner could have phoned this film in while taking a shit. There is absolutely no reason that this movie had to have been directed by Nichols. The only thing that reminded me it was him was the use of his patented “fucking annoying zoom,” the technical term I use, named after the several horrible ones done in “The Graduate” (watch the first college scene). This movie is an Ivan Reitman movie, a Harold Ramis movie. Hell, this is even one for the fool who directed Adam Sandler into box office gold with “Wedding Singer” and “Waterboy.” (Actually, no. On second thought, this is too intelligent for him).
Fourth, Garry Shandling himself. Sure, I wept when “Larry Sanders” went off the air, but this is not the way to revive your career, buddy. I understand your character has no emotion, but c’mon! You can do better than that! What happened to the sarcastic asshole that has become your persona? In this movie, you’re just plain dumb.
Finally, my last main problem, the arc of the story. There’s a good opening, but after around 25 minutes, everything peters down. It becomes monotonous and boring as the jokes fail faster than you can say “Wild Wild West.” There are jokes throughout that perk you up, but only enough to stay interested. Unfortunately, these characters are not interesting, even Annette Bening, who’s portrayal of a ditzy real estate agent (once again) who gave a much lighter and restrained performance than her insane housewife of the kick-ass “American Beauty.” Remember “Mars Attacks!” (which I do actually love)? We didn’t really give two shits about any of the characters, but at least that movie had an excuse. It was an homage, a satire, a farce. “What Planet” has no reason to treat its characters like this. Back to the plot, the final 20 minutes become pretty cool, and that’s where the cheesy visuals come in. They aren’t bad, but they’re those kinds that scream “HEY! Special effects here. Heeheeheehee…The studio can afford us, but still cannot make us actually look realistic.” (btw, Harry, I admire your rant the other night on the reality of special effects. Good show).
And now, the good stuff. The cameos are surprising, although unnecessary. The space stuff is cool enough, obviously touched up by co-writer Ed Solomon of MIB and Bill & Ted fame. Linda Fiorentino, the goddess, is HOT, seeming more like “Last Seduction” and “Jade” than MIB or “Unforgettable.” In the small amount of screen time she actually has, she aroused me in the way that Garry Shandling is aroused in the movie (I will not give away the done-to-death joke, which, I repeat, is pretty damn funny until the 20th time it is done). I love her! As the film geek I am, I love her!
This is a movie worth seeing, but I don’t know about in the theater. It’ll be perfect on HBO, just like “Analyze This” was perfect on HBO (a movie that I didn’t like a whole lot in theaters). If you love Garry Shandling, by all means, go and see it, but for others, be warned.
It is a good movie, but it ain’t flawless.
Signing off, but I’ll have the script review for ya tomorrow, and I promise it will be better thought-out than this one, Harry. Hey, it is my first time, ya know)
--Enigma Boy
