What Planet Are You From? | | Cast : | Garry Shandling, Annette Bening | | Director : | Mike Nichols | | Studio : | Columbia/Tristar Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | March 03, 2000 | | DVD Released Date : | June 07, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | April 02, 2005 | | Summary | Good Film; Superb, and under-rated | Content
 | Shandling plays the regular straight man in this film. The whole purpose for the visit to earth is world domination, at least that is what is CLEARLY stated in the film, at least twice this is stated. I don't know why the Amazon critic misses this point. Also, the penis HUMS, not buzzes. Also another point stated numerous times.
As has been said in other reviews, the humour is dry, and subtle. It's not a laugh out loud film, but it is enjoyable, and as many times as I have seen the film, all the performances are first rate, and Ben Kingsley's final moment is so classic.
Not exactly art, but its an enjoyable film, and streets ahead of a slightly related film EARTH GIRLS ARE EASY.
watch and enjoy. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 23, 2005 | | Summary | Another great film trashed by critics | Content
| When "What Planet Are You From" came out in theaters in 2000, nearly every film critic in America bashed and trashed it. Although not a masterpiece on any standard, it is still a great comedy and has some great performances from some of today's stars. Gary Shandling is a comedic genius, somewhat akin to Peter Sellers, and his timing in this film delivers some of the greatest moments in comedic film history. The expressions he has when dealing with his buzzing member are classic, as well as his lines he uses in order to cover them up.
Also starring Annette Bening, in a different comedic turn but also has a classic performance, as well as John Goodman, Ben Kingsley, and Greg Kinnear, this film gives an interesting look at how love and sex are interpreted in different relationships. This is a theme familiar to the director, Mike Nichols, who tackles this same subject with his classic "The Graduate" and his newest film "Closer".
While "What Planet Are You From" may be seen as camp and corny by some, the underlying message in the film is universal. Once you can get past the idea of Shandling as an alien coming to earth to impregnate a human in hopes of taking over the world, and all the hilarity that ensues when he installs a penis that buzzes and vibrates when he gets sexually excited, I think everybody can see how moving and relevant the film actually is.
I highly recommend this film and hope you all give it a chance. A great film with some great stars. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 12, 2005 | | Summary | Great Movie | Content
| If you are a Gary Shandling fan, this movie is a must. If you like subtle dry humor, this movie is a must. If you like movies, this movie is a must. |
| Rating | | | Date | November 23, 2002 | | Summary | underrated | Content
| The set up of this film seems simple and silly enough. On a planet a thousand years more technologically advanced than Earth, the entire population is male clones with no sex organs, no emotions, and
nothing better to do than conquer the Universe. Their technique--though it's never explained--involves impregnating a woman on the planet they wish to take over. So their leader, Graydon--played by
Ben Kingsley in a nice turn--instructs them in the fine art of seducing an Earth woman, which to their minds mainly consists of complimenting her hair and shoes. Their quickest learner, H1449-6 (Gary
Shandling), is chosen to perform the deed and is whisked to Earth where he is deposited in the lavatory of a passenger jet. The disruption this causes the flight brings him to the attention of an NTSB inspector
(John Goodman). But he is able to rapidly establish himself in a job as Harold Anderson, bank loan officer, and, thanks to the womanizing connivance of a co-worker (Greg Kinnear), he's soon romancing a
recovering alcoholic, Susan Hart (Annette Benning), who they meet at an AA meeting where they've gone to scam babes. And so we have the basic dramatic tension of the film: Will Harold be discovered
before he can complete his mission? The film gets to this point mostly on the strength of battle-of-the-sexes humor and some physical comedy involving the mechanical penis that Shandling's character has had attached to enable him to
complete his mission. It continues in this vein through the early portion of Harold's relationship with Susan, but when he ends up having to marry her to get her to bear his child the inevitable humanizing takes
place and a more serious message starts to peak out from beneath the more sophomoric sex comedy and the unfortunately disjointed story line. This initial message concerns the utter emptiness of the
modern mating game, which is all about sex and only peripherally, if at all, about meaningful interaction between two people. By the end--when Harold realizes that Graydon won't let Susan keep their baby
and that the experience of love, loyalty, sex, death, and all the rest that makes us human is superior to the supposedly advanced bioengineered culture of his home world--it's become very much a political
film, whether intentionally or no. It comes down so firmly on the side of humanity as it is, with all our glorious and maddening imperfections, and against the vision of a future that is perfect but soulless, that
regardless of an over reliance on genitalia jokes it ends up being a profoundly conservative movie, and a pretty funny one at that. GRADE: B+ |
| Rating | | | Date | October 14, 2002 | | Summary | don't bother | Content
| what a waster of my time...the whole movie is so predictable and boring. i've spent better time in the can than watching this movie. |
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