Starring Geena Davis, Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey, and Julie Brown
Directed by Julien Temple
Music and Lyrics by various
If you thought an animated musical about mutated street animals saving a post-apocalyptic world was weird, get a load of this one. This adaption of the hit Julie Brown song apparently had its genesis in 1986, but Warner Bros lost interest when Temple's previous project bombed and they couldn't interest any major stars in the film. It ultimately ended up with the De Laurentis Group and Vestron...but Temple's eye for detail drove up costs and flared up tempers. The fact that it was filmed while the De Laurentis Group was facing bankruptcy likely didn't help matters. By the time it limped into general release in 1989, it was an enormous flop, not even making its relatively small budget back. Does it deserve that fate, or should these aliens get a second chance to show their stuff? Let's begin with three hairy, horny aliens in a spaceship on their way to Earth and find out...
The Story: Valerie Gail (Davis) is having a really bad week. First of all, she let her girlfriend Candy (Brown) give her a complete makeover to put her fiancee Dr. Ted Gallagher (Charlie Rocket) in a more amorous frame of mind. He ends up bringing home a buxom nurse (Stacey Travis) instead, and Val kicks him out. Not long after that, a strange yellow alien ship crash lands in her swimming pool. She nearly drowns investigating it. The aliens turn out to be friendly and help her inside, but she has no idea what to do with them or how to keep Ted from finding them while her surfer friend Woody (Michael McKean) drains her pool
She ends up taking them to Candy for makeovers...revealing three hot, if goofy, guys under all that hair. Mac (Goldblum), the group's leader, ends up falling for Valerie during a trip to a nightclub. Ted, however, does not like Valerie hanging out with three weirdos and calls off their engagement. The aliens also know very little about human culture besides what they've gleaned off TV. When Zeebo (Damon Waynas) and Wiploc (Carrey) land in the hospital, Mac and Valerie go after him before Ted can figure out they're aliens. Valerie still thinks Ted might be the one, but when the spaceship is finally repaired, she begins to wonder if an out-of-this-world love might be better for her than an earthbound doctor who doesn't appreciate her.
The Song and Dance: This is one of the most original live-action musicals in an era where comedies about teen witches, alien stepmothers, and vampire besties abounded. Carrey and Waynas get to show early signs of the wacky, rubbery comic geniuses that would make them household names in the next decade, while Goldblum is charming as the sweetest and least-goofy of the three aliens. Davis is a riot as Valerie, desperately trying to bed Ted while figuring out what to do with these guys, and Michael McKean has a lot of fun as surf bum Woody who has probably had one too many falls off his board. The filming in real-life LA adds considerably to the film's weird charm.
The Numbers: We open with the title song in the alien's ship and over a unique animated credits sequence depicting sci-fi tropes. Our first chorus number is at the salon where Candy and Valerie work, the Curl Up and Dye, as Candy and the hairdressers claim they're going to turn Val into a "Brand New Girl." Val and Candy take the shaved aliens for a night on the town, where they and the chorus "Hit Me." Mac impresses Val with a charming instrumental number at the piano. "Baby Gonna Shake" lets Zeebo show off his moves against another dancer in a cage. Candy reveals why she's so glad to have gone platinum at the beach in another signature Julie Brown number, the chorus routine "'Cause I'm a Blonde." Woody, Zeebo, and Wiploc "Shake That Cosmic Thing" during a huge car chase downtown. The aliens navigate being turned around on the highway to Depuche Mode's version of "Route 66." The movie ends with Hall & Oates' version of "Love Train" over the credits.
What I Don't Like: Did I mention how weird this is? Weird and very, very 80's. It plays on a lot of stereotypes of the time, including valley girls and their obsession with landing wealthy beaus. Nowadays, Val probably would have kicked Ted's rear to the curb permanently the first time she found him cheating. Brown's Candy can get annoying fast, especially in that "Blonde" number. (Incidentally, if the "Blonde" number seems a bit extraneous, it was added at the last minute to give the film a second hit Brown tune.)
The Big Finale: If you love the cast or other truly unique science fiction or fantasy comedies from this era, you'll want to ride the wave over to California to meet three of the most rockin' aliens to ever crash into a manicurist's swimming pool.
Home Media: Easily found on all formats, often for under $10. Tubi currently has it for free with commercials.
No comments:
Post a Comment