MARTIANS GO HOME
A film review by Jonathan D. Trudel
Copyright 1990 Jonathan D. Trudel
I don't know how Randy Quaid and Elizabeth Perkins got involved with this movie. Their agents must have owed some producers a favor or two. I did not see anything resembling advertising for this movie except for an ad in the movie section of the local newspaper.
Nevertheless, the premise is such:
Randy Quaid plays one of those musicians who gets stuck writing music for TV cop shows and low-budget game shows. He gets a break and is offered the chance to write the soundtrack for a science fiction movie. He leaps at the chance, and through an accident, his music is broadcast on a radio station that his girlfriend (or wife?, played by Elizabeth Perkins) works at. Somehow, the people of the planet Mars hear it and are summoned to Earth.
At this point, I'd like to say that the ad for the movie calls the invasion of the Martians as "One billion comedians come to entertain us, only the joke is on us." Well, the joke is on the viewers of the movie who shelled out money to pay for it. The "comedians" should have been called "annoying relatives who come for a visit." They look like polyester-clad green people. They show up and disrupt life on Earth much in the same way that gonged people on the old Gong-Show would. The "humor" is awful. Anyway, Randy Quaid discovers a way to send the Martians away (how I don't know), and attempts to do so. The pity is that he didn't think of it sooner.
One of the few times I actually laughed was when they made a little jab at French filmmaking. They cut to the outside of an apartment in Paris, and we hear a woman and man talking to each other. The conversation goes something like:
Man: "Life is meaningless. There is only pain, suffering and bitterness." (A Martian appears through the miracle of sound effects). Woman: "Look! There is a Martian standing on our sofa." Man: "So? Nothing has changed. There is still only bitterness." Woman: "But, now there is only bitterness and green men."
This is a movie that I wouldn't recommend to anyone. When I saw it, there were only three people in the theater, myself included. At least the couple that showed up could enjoy each other's company. Unfortunately, I make it policy to stay through any movie that I go to in a theater. I considered leaving from this one.
I give the movie a -3 on the -4/+4 scale.
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