What Planet Are You From? Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

What Planet Are You From? Blu-ray Movie Review

Uh Huh. Uh Huh...

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 22, 2017

All men are from Mars...and beyond. But all women are apparently from Earth. And the intricacies of intimacy between the sexes is apparently very universal. In Director Mike Nichols' (Postcards from the Edge) 2000 Comedy What Planet Are You From?, the battle of the sexes is explored in a very overt, direct, and humorous fashion, the man hailing from an alien world and who is only interested in sex and the human women who put up boundaries before putting out. Sort of a gender-reversed and much lighter version of Species, the film offers a funny and fluffy look at how men and women approach sex, the man usually operating under a single end goal and the woman often in search of more than just a tussle under the sheets.

On a distant planet of high technology where only cloned, emotionless, and sexual organ-less ambitious men live, a plot to control the universe is being hatched. The aliens' next target is Earth. Their mission: to select one of their own to learn the ways of the human female, infiltrate the planet, and impregnate a woman. Of all the men in competition, H1449-6, or "Harold Anderson" (Garry Shandling), is chosen for this special mission. He's equipped with the necessary "part" to do the deed and is sent to Earth where his direct approach gets him slapped, not into bed. As he begins to figure out the human female with the help of a co-worker named Perry Gordon (Greg Kinnear), he meets the perfect woman: a recovering alcoholic named Susan (Annette Bening). Harold and Susan hit it off, but before he can get in her pants and fulfill his mission he's going to need to get her into a wedding gown and fulfill her dreams.

What a weird movie. What Planet Are You From? explores the notions of intimacy between the genders. That's nothing really earth shattering and it's a staple of the Comedy landscape. But to shake things up, the filmmakers have made the man an alien. Even though he largely behaves like an Earth man. Maybe the point is that the male sex drive and one-track mind is absolutely a "universal" truth. Beyond the sound his, um, unit makes when he's aroused, his ability to shoot light from his nostrils, and wreaking temporary havoc on the airplanes that serve as a jumping-in point for his interstellar travels, he's a one-track mind kind of guy who is almost completely defined by that vibrating sound his privates make when he's aroused. Which is frequent. It increases in intensity when things are looking up, and it decreases when the mood fizzles, often because the fairer sex isn't interested in sex. The movie's hook, it seems, is that the alien Harold has to find that balance between thinking with his big head and thinking with his little head, which is most every Earth man's struggle, anyway. So the movie isn't really much for subtly or metaphor (though sexual imagery and innuendo abound) and considering that Harold is very much human in his sexual demands and desires, he's more familiar than he is alien. Maybe that's the point. Who knows.

Regardless, it's a fairly entertaining little movie, adequately humorous in all the right (and expected) ways but not getting as much mileage out of the "alien" angle as one might think since Harold is, as noted, a very relatable man at his core. Shandling can be subtly hilarious in the lead role, particularly early on as he's maneuvering through a growing understanding of what Earth women are really like, what they want, and how to get what he wants out of them, finding that delicate balance between "direct" and "suave." He's surrounded by an extraordinarily good supporting cast. The ever-reliable John Goodman devours every scene in only the way he can, playing a detective hellbent on proving that there's something off about Harold, that he's a central figure in the various unexplainable goings-on in the aviation world. Annette Bening plays opposite Shandling as the central love interest, the one that stands above the crowd of contenders and pretenders to take his seed and satisfy his endless arousal. She plays it fairly straight, helped by a script that fleshes her character out not substantially, but enough to mold her into a real, relatable individual that the audience can fall in love with, as Harold does, and come to understand the deeper emotional underpinnings that make her the perfect foil to Harold's go-go-go sex-sex-sex approach to relationships. Greg Kinnear impresses as Harold's human co-worker and equal in his insatiable thirst for sex, while Ben Kingsley, Judy Greer, Richard Jenkins, and Linda Fiorentino shine in smaller roles. If nothing else, the movie boasts an exceptionally talented cast with not a bad effort in the bunch.

What Planet Are You From? Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

What Planet Are You From?'s 1080p transfer generally looks good, but it fails to approach greatness. The image does retain a bit grain, with some noise sprinkled in throughout. It appears a bit filtered and sharpened, playing with a mildly processed look. Light ringing, macroblocking, and print wear are also evident. Details are occasionally a little smooth, particularly at distance, but close-ups are impressively complex, showing off pores, hairs, and clothing details with enjoyable depth and definition. Color saturation is fine, the palette never appearing overly vibrant or disappointingly dull, finding a happy medium middle ground that allows the movie's flashier colors to shine. Black levels aren't problematic and flesh tones are only mildly pasty. There's a nicer image at the source than what is presented here, but it's also far from a disaster.

What Planet Are You From? Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Though the back of the box features a Dolby Digital logo, What Planet Are You From? actually contains an LPCM 2.0 uncompressed soundtrack. It's fairly basic but satisfies the movie's needs with no problems of major note. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized, finding a pleasing natural front-center positioning and a little side-stretching reverberation in a larger area near the end of the movie. Little atmospheric details are nicely implemented out to the sides, never fully immersive but accomplishing enough to set the stage and subtly draw the listener into a few areas. Music is fine, enjoying appropriate front-end width and instrumental clarity.

What Planet Are You From? Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of What Planet Are You From? contains no supplemental content. The main menu offers only "Play" and "Subtitles On / Off" options.

What Planet Are You From? Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

What Planet Are You From? is an interesting little film, oddly making its main character an alien only to turn around and make him very much representative of the human male. It finds enough humor to carry it through its rather vapid exploration of sexuality and the male and female perspectives on intimacy. The late Garry Shandling impresses in the one-track but evolving alien lead while Annette Bening brings a very human and female balance opposite. The duo is surrounded by a star-studded cast that together keep the movie ticking even when it falls a bit flat in its core explorations of the human sexual condition. Mill Creek's Blu-ray release is unsurprisingly featureless. Video is good not great, and the two-channel uncompressed soundtrack satisfies the movie's requirements. Recommended.