ALIEN NATION
A film review by Jeff Meyer
Copyright 1988 Jeff Meyer
First of all, you should go into ALIEN NATION knowing that this really isn't a science fiction picture per se. It's a "partner" cop movie (my god, we've had enough of these things to actually give it a genre) with science fiction elements, most of which are used for either a) humor, b) social commentary or c) the rather contrived finale.
Anyway, if you view it as a "partners" movie, I think it works pretty well. 50% of a such a film depends on the chemistry between the partners, and between James Caan and Mandy Patinkin, the chemistry is there. Both create characters who are complex (and in Caan's case, not particularly likable), yet who mesh very well towards the end. Caan may be crude and bigoted (at least at the beginning of the film) as a police detective who's partner is killed by a criminal who is also an alien -- aliens landed sometime in 1988 (the film takes place in 1991, and much of the humor takes place from near-future jokes), refugees from a slave world, and were integrated into society. Patinkin (recognizable only by his voice -- I've been listening to music from SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE) plays the first alien to make it to the grade of detective is partnered with Caan, who wants his help in tracking down his ex-partner's killers. He nicknames Patinkin's character "George" (an in-joke to Patinkin's musical role, I'd bet), since the indoctrination site gave him the name "Sam Francisco", and you can guess what happens next: in the course of the investigation, they gain grudging respect for one another, become friends and eventually, partners. Patinkin's gentle sense of humor, his immigrant's love of America (to the aliens, America truly is a land of freedom), and his outrage as the plot unfolds, endears him both to us and to Caan. These guys work so well together, I'd like to see them in a sequel with a somewhat better plot.
The plot is, really, cops vs. drug kingpins. Frankly, I usually find drug kingpins rather tired, overworked villains, but Rockne O'Bannon (the screenwriter) makes them, and the drug they sell, repugnant through Patinkin's reactions and his explanation of what the drug was used when his race were slaves. O'Bannon also does a lot of quality dialogue, and between that and the performances by the two leads, the movie was a thumbs-up experience. There's a lovely line by Patinkin about the difference between America's ideals and how they are practiced by its citizens....
Its greatest failing is in the last fifteen minutes, where the crime plot was dropped and another, more hackneyed one is appended. I don't want to give it away, but suffice it to say that this would be a fine time to head to the restroom or stop by the concession stand -- you'll be able to predict what's going to happen, and you'll be right.
Conclusion: it's flawed by its ending, but as an example of its genre, I found it satisfying and a nice twist on several conventions. Special kudos to Caan and Patinkin for rising above the low points of the scripts and making the film enjoyable and (ha-ha) human. A good matinee-price film.
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
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