¿De Qué Planeta Vienes?

WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? / (2000) *** (out of four)

By Blake French:

Mike Nichols' "What Planet Are You From?" is one of the most honest comedies I can remember-and it is a funny one, too. The script features distorted stereotypes dealing with human relationships. Men are only interested in sex with women, you say? Women want emotional support from men, so I hear? This film examines those concepts in such a unique and straightforward fashion even several technical flaws fail to interrupt the creative flow of colorful ideas.

Sex is the topic in "What Planet Are You From?" but what it truly gets at is the differences of female and male relationship perspectives. Gary Shandling stars as an alien called H1449, who lives with an all-male race on a distant, technologically advanced planet. The race reproduces by cloning only, and because the men never use their sex organs, they have shrunk and disappeared. The leader of the planet, Graydon (Ben Kingsley), plans to take over the entire universe, targeting Earth next. Taking over the planet from the inside is his strategy. After extensive training and dispensed with a penis, H1449 is sent to Earth to breed with a woman.

H1449 disguises himself as a home and commercial loan officer named Harold Anderson. His first and foremost mission is to impregnate the first available woman, the problem is that his targets are scared of the humming sound that comes from his penis, in correlation with his state of arousal. He does manage to bed a few easy women, including a flight attendant and a strip club dancer. After meeting his adulterous coworker, Perry (Greg Kinnear), and becoming a candidate for a big promotion, his mission becomes more and more unimportant.

Harold soon meets Susan Hart (Annette Bening), a recovering alcoholic/real estate agent putting her life back together. Her biological clock is ticking, so she finds herself marrying Harold after learning about his desires to have a child. Under great pressure from Graydon and an FAA agent (John Goodman), who is set on proving Harold is an alien, the confused H1449 must not only focus on his demanding mission, but also with his new Earthly duties and emotionally needy wife.

It's fun watching Harold realize the emotions of being human; when he experiences feelings like anger, jealousy, sadness, and sympathy, we feel oddly touched. There are a few funny moments from the hilariously frank sexual gestures. With nonstop sexual innuendoes and extremely blunt material, the dialogue is irresistible. The vibrating penis gag has potential, but it is not fully explored. "What Planet Are You From?" has a lot of laughs, but could have had a lot more fun with its plot elements.

I really liked the performance by Gary Shandling. His calm, confused state of mind makes for a light-hearted sense of humor. He often provides the film with hilarious moments, with simple, frank facial expressions. Annette Bening provides the story with a comical charm fitting for the role. The supporting cast is top notch even to minor roles. Such small but effective performances come from Nora Dunn ("Three Kings"), Janeane Garofalo ("Clay Pigeons," "The Matchmaker"), Judy Greer ("Jawbreaker") and Linda Fiorentino ("Men in Black," "Dogma").

Mike Nichols has made better movies, such "The Graduate," "The Birdcage," "Primary Colors" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" "What Planet Are You From?" is by far his silliest production, and I am actually a bit surprised to see him involved with this kind of movie. It is downright stupid at times-just plain dumb. But it is a funny stupid. The story evokes laughs from its utter foolishness. I enjoyed the film-not a lot-but it often connected with my unusual sense of humor. If you like this kind of offensive, perverse, and superficial buffoonery, and you know who you are, you might just find yourself having a ball with "What Planet Are You From?"

As an avid action, horror, comedy, and anything non-rom-com fan, I hate the typical Hollywood bull of same old same romantic comedies they are constantly spitting out expecting audiences to appreciate!

But on its release, I was lucky enough to fall upon this little gem of a film from the hilarious Gary Shandling - What Planet are You From?

From the get-go this film is hilarious, with Gary's dead-pan humour and ridiculous faces. Annette Benning is fantastic as is most of the other cast who fit their roles perfectly and look like they are having a blast doing so!

Carrying enough romance without being sickening, the film is almost perfect with constant laugh out loud moments and an over-all feel good achievement by the end of it.

Was great to see it again after so many years and found it even funnier this time around!

I was interested in seeing this because of Shandling's press for his HBO shows. The underlying premise for the movie seems based on the "Men are from Mars..." theme and it goes for many of that predictable type of gags, adding to it a repetitive use of the alien's (Shandling's) prosthetic penis that makes a humming noise when interested (energized). This strikes some people as being just hilariously funny and others as being either mildly amusing or possibly boring -- (as various as reactions to boogers or whoopee cushions can produce, but not necessarily for exactly the same people).

This is a cartoon-like farce that takes some liberties with reality. You won't like it if you insist that everything hang fairly tightly together and make logical sense. Annette Benning and John Goodman do nice jobs in their roles (in "American Beauty" she was one-dimensional -- here she has a broad range including vulnerability & hurt); without their roles the movie would have been lifeless.

Consider it as a light weight date movie with some value for suggestive comments; it can easily lead to saying things like, 'do I hear something humming?' or 'you've started something buzzing.'

I have long been a fan of Gary Shandling ever since his show on Fox. He has a perfect way a delivering the dead pan punch line. Gary is perfectly cast as the emotionless alien who comes to impregnate a woman in order to take over our world. What Planet Are You From has its flaws and arguments could be made for not liking this film. At times it is uneven and not sure what direction it wants to take. Sub plots are left unexplained or ended in a somewhat confusing fashion. All of these distractions are a side note to hilarious writing and stellar acting from a great cast including John Goodman, Greg Kinnear, Linda Fiorentino, and Annette Benning. The jokes are all dead on and Shandling's performance, especially as he develops into the more atypical male stereotype, is brilliant.

I believe that this film is often misunderstood.

I believe that one would have to be a fan of Gary Shandling to thoroughly enjoy the film. If you find Shandling to be unfunny, then the entirety of the film will be lost on you. If you find yourself laughing at Shandling and his wry sense of humor, as I do, then you'll most likely find this film as a underated "diamond in the rough."

It is my opinion that the "Extra-Terristrial/World Domination" plot of this film is strictly metophorical, and should be taken as such. Shandling masterfully uses this as a platform to illustrate the "world" of difference in the psychies of men and women. Though we speak the same language, Shandling is showing us that we are often hearing quite different things. He shows men as we truly are, an evolved species that is still driven by are primitave nature of 65 million years ago.

I wouldn't classify this film as "laugh out loud" funny, but I believe that there are several witty and insiteful jokes that show us just how different we truly are. I would highly recommend this film to any man, or woman, in a secure and typical relationship. If you have ever struggled to wonder what your companion is truly thinking when they say the things they say, or do the things they do, then I don't believe you will be disappointed by this film.