''What Planet Are You From?'' is a 2000 American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Mike Nichols Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude fo ...

and written by

Michael Leeson Michael Jon Leeson (died July 27, 2016) was an American screenwriter. Filmography *'' Love, American Style'' (1972–1973) (TV) *''All in the Family'' (1973) (TV) *''The Partridge Family'' (1973–1974) (TV) *'' The Odd Couple'' (1972–197 ...

, Garry Shandling,

Ed Solomon Edward James Solomon (born September 15, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for writing the screenplays to ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' (1989), ''Men in Black'' (1997), and '' Now You See Me'' (2013). Life and career Solo ...

, and

Peter Tolan Peter James Tolan III (born July 5, 1958) is an American television producer, director, and screenwriter. Early life and career Tolan was born in Scituate, Massachusetts, where he was a perennial favorite in the high school's dramatic production ...

based on a story by Leeson and Shandling. The film stars Shandling,

Annette Bening Annette Carol Bening (born May 29, 1958) is an American actress. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over four decades, including a British Academy Film Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominati ...

Greg Kinnear Gregory Buck Kinnear (born June 17, 1963) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in ''As Good as It Gets'' (1997). Kinnear has appeared in many popular films, including '' Sabrina'' (1 ...

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and tw ...

Linda Fiorentino Clorinda "Linda" Fiorentino (born March 9, 1958 or 1960) is an American former actress. Fiorentino made her screen debut with a leading role in the 1985 coming-of-age drama film ''Vision Quest'', followed that same year with a lead role in the ac ...

, and

John Goodman John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He gained national fame for his role as the family patriarch Dan Conner in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC comedy series ''Roseanne'' (1988–1997; 2018), for which he rec ...

Plot

A denizen ( Garry Shandling) of a faraway planet occupied only by highly evolved males is ordered by his superior, Graydon (

), to find a female human, impregnate her and bring the baby back to the planet. The visitor to Earth ends up in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

, where he assumes the name Harold Anderson and takes a job in a bank. There he meets a womanizing co-worker Perry Gordon (

), who goes to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings strictly to meet women. Harold accompanies him to one and meets Susan (

), a recovering alcoholic. He must marry her before he can try to mate. After their wedding in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, Susan finds herself wildly satisfied by Harold, even though men from his planet have no genitals and he has been equipped for his Earth visit with a penis that makes a loud whirring sound whenever he gets an erection. Harold and Susan have a difficult time conceiving a baby. Meanwhile, Roland Jones (

), an employee of the

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

who learned of Harold's odd behavior on an airplane, has become obsessed with proving him to be an alien and being the first one to find him. When the child is born, Harold, following orders, abandons his wife and returns to his planet, but his sadness over hurting Susan leaves him with guilt and second thoughts even though people from his world theoretically have no emotions, so against the wishes of Graydon, he returns the baby to Susan and tells her the truth. Susan is angry, grateful, and completely disbelieving. Harold offers to prove that he is in fact an alien and does so just as Roland arrives, viewing Harold's "act of proof" through the window. Instead of forgiving him and welcoming him back into their relationship, Susan breaks down in tears, saying, "I thought I had things right but then I married an alien!" Harold leaves. Once outside, Harold sees Roland, who is delighted to know he was right all along about Harold being an alien. Roland implores Harold to come with him and admit this to his wife, who doesn't believe him about Harold. Harold charitably agrees, but before that can happen, Graydon shows up with a phaser. Holding Harold at gunpoint, he declares he's taking Harold back. Roland pulls his gun on the leader, who brags, "none of your primitive weapons can hurt me, and I can heal instantly from anything," and shoots him in the chest. Graydon falls dead into the fountain. Susan comes outside and says she thinks they should try to patch things up after all. Roland happily walks off with Graydon's alien body. Susan and Harold retake their vows in the wedding she says she always wanted. On the drive home, he tells her that the citizens of his planet want him to take over as leader. They discuss it, but she doesn't want to move since all her friends are here, and she knows nothing about the school system there. Harold grudgingly agrees to make the very long commute.

Cast

* Garry Shandling as Harold Anderson *

as Susan Anderson *

as Perry Gordon *

as Graydon *

as Helen Gordon *

as Roland Jones *

Judy Greer Judith Therese Evans (born July 20, 1975), known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress, who has appeared in a wide variety of films. She first rose to prominence in a variety of suppor ...

as Rebecca * Danny Zorn as Randy * Harmony Smith as Rita *

Richard Jenkins Richard Dale Jenkins (born May 4, 1947) is an American actor who is well known for his portrayal of deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series '' Six Feet Under'' (2001–2005). He began his career in theater at the Tr ...

as Don Fisk *

Caroline Aaron Caroline Sidney Aaron (née Abady; born ) is an American actress. She is known for her performances in films like Mike Nichols' ''Heartburn'' (1986) and ''Primary Colors'' (1998), as well as Woody Allen's '' Crimes and Misdemeanors'' (1989), ' ...

as Nadine Jones *

Nora Dunn Nora Dunn (born April 29, 1952) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch variety TV series '' Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990, Dr. Reynolds in ''The Nanny'' (1998-1999), and Muriel in '' Home Economic ...

as Madeline * Cricky Long as Janice *

Camryn Manheim Debra Frances "Camryn" Manheim (born March 8, 1961) is an American actress known for her roles as attorney Ellenor Frutt on ABC's '' The Practice'', Delia Banks on CBS's '' Ghost Whisperer'', Gladys Presley in the 2005 miniseries '' Elvis'', and ...

as Alison * Ann Cusack as Liz *

Phill Lewis Phillip David Lewis (born February 14, 1968) is an American actor, comedian and director who is best known for his role as hotel manager Mr. Moseby on the Disney Channel series ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' and its spin-off, ''The Suite Lif ...

as Other MD *

Janeane Garofalo Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''. Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...

as upset airline passenger *

Octavia Spencer Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1970) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Critics' Choice Awards and three Screen Actors ...

as baby nurse

Production

Shandling set up the film while starring in HBO’s

The Larry Sanders Show ''The Larry Sanders Show'' is an American television sitcom set in the office and studio of a fictional late-night talk show. The series was created by Garry Shandling and Dennis Klein and aired from August 15, 1992, to May 31, 1998, on the HBO ...

with initial drafts written by

and

, before a rewrite was performed by Shandling and his former “Sanders” producer

. In December 1998, it was announced

had entered negotiations to direct the film.

Release

''What Planet Are You From?'' opened theatrically on March 3, 2000, in 2,248 venues, earning $3,008,746 in its first weekend and ranking fourteenth in the North American box office. The film ended its run, having grossed $6,291,602 domestically and $7,854,075 overseas for a worldwide total of $14,145,677. Based on a $60 million budget, the film was a

box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

Reception

The film holds a 42% score on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 77 reviews and average rating of 5.01/10. The site's consensus states: "Though ''What Planet Are You From?'' has some laughs, it's too inconsistent and bland for critics to give it their recommendations."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

reports a 41 out of 100 rating based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:What Planet Are You From 2000 films 2000s sex comedy films 2000s science fiction comedy films 2000 science fiction films American science fiction comedy films American sex comedy films Alien invasions in films 2000s English-language films Films set in Arizona Films shot in California Films shot in the Las Vegas Valley Films shot in Los Angeles Columbia Pictures films Films scored by Carter Burwell Films directed by Mike Nichols Films with screenplays by Ed Solomon Films with screenplays by Peter Tolan 2000 comedy films 2000s American films