directed by : mike nichols written by : garry shandling ( story ) , michael leeson how do you think an alien would react if forced to experience the trials of human dating rituals ? this is the main idea behind " what planet are you from ? " , the new comedy from director mike nichols ( " primary colors " , " the birdcage " ) . garry shandling ( " the larry sanders show " ) , who also developed the film's story , plays the lead role . the truth is , i went into this movie not expecting a whole lot out of shandling . i've never cared for his previous roles , and the previews looked somewhat bland . much to my surprise , " what planet are you from ? " turned out to be quite an enjoyable movie with fairly consistent laughs throughout . this is mainly because not only does shandling do an admirable job , but he is surrounded by a great supporting cast . on a planet way the hell out there , a race of men is preparing to take over the universe by sending minions to have sex with women from every other race in the galaxy . harold anderson ( garry shandling ) has been chosen to procreate with a female from earth . his planet's leader ( ben kingsley ) prepares him with the necessary training ( in a very amusing opening scene ) and gives him two days to conceive a child . however , upon his arrival , anderson finds that his training has not prepared him for the illogical behavior of humans . he immediately seeks help from a co-worker ( greg kinnear ) and is soon introduced to a suitable mate named susan ( annette bening ) . anderson is faced with two problems now : first , susan will only mate with him after they are married , and second , his arrival on the planet has aroused the suspicions of an airport employee ( john goodman ) who soon discovers who anderson really is . i think the funniest thing about shandling's performance throughout " what planet are you from ? " is that he reacts to everything thrown at him in such a logical manner . for example , in one scene susan is upset with harold for watching television rather than paying attention to her . she hurls the remote against the wall , smashing it . harold immediately decides to purchase a new remote , which further infuriates susan . she then shouts " fine , just go ! " harold promptly nods his head and leaves . annette bening is perfectly cast as susan , managing somehow to look hassled , angry , and deeply confused all at once . she also manages to save shandling at times when his lack of experience in a leading role begins to show . the supporting cast is , in fact , one of the best things about this film . greg kinnear ( " mystery men " , " as good as it gets " ) is perfect as the king of sleaze balls everywhere . ben kingsley ( " species " , " schindler's list " ) is a great choice as the straight as an arrow ruler of anderson's planet , though he is a bit underused . john goodman ( " the big lebowski " ) , who i believe is one of the best comic actors in hollywood , is hilarious in his role as the one man who thinks he knows the truth . one of the biggest problems i had with the film was that goodman was so underused that his character seemed rather pointless . linda fiorentino ( " dogma " ) makes a brief appearance as kinnear's wife , and janeane garofolo shows up in a cameo as an airline passenger . the film may not make a whole lot of sense , since we are never told just how anderson's impregnating a woman will bring about the downfall of the species , but plot isn't exactly the point here . while " what planet are you from ? " manages to keep the humor going through the majority of its length , things do get a bit too sappy and sentimental towards the end . if it had been trimmend down some from its 112 minute running time i probably would have given it four stars . one last thing i must note is that annette bening plays a real-estate agent in the film ( " american beauty " , anyone ? ) . for a very funny script , a surprisingly good turn by garry shandling , and a great supporting cast , i give " what planet are you from ? " three and a half out of five stars . comments ? feel free to e-mail them to : <a href= " mailto : johnbeachem@dependentfilms . net " >johnbeachem@dependentfilms . net</a> for past reviews , movie news , and other fun stuff , visit : <a href= " http : //www . dependentfilms . net " >http : //www . dependentfilms . net</a> * * * * * - one of the greatest movies ever made , see it now . * * * * - great flick , try and catch this one . * * * - okay movie , hits and misses . * * - pretty bad , see it only if you've got nothing better to do . * - one of the worst movies ever made . see it only if you enjoy pain . 
