Morons from Outer Space

In director Mike Hodges's only openly comedic film to date, Anlgo-American pop culture of the '70s and early '80s is mercilessly lampooned. From "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977) to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) to David Bowie as the avatar of Ziggy Stardust, nothing escapes a satirical mauling by Hodges and writers/actors Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith. On the surface, much of the humor appears to be at the level of Benny Hill, but it is actually much more subtle in its subtext, addressing the mindlessness of celebrity worship, the nature of friendship, the willful self-delusion that can arise from one's own expectations, and the fleetingness of fame. With satire more subtle than seen in similar, American films of the same period (e.g., "This is Spinal Tap" (1984)), "Morons from Outer Space" may not be to everyone's taste. I will be the first to admit that British humor is an acquired taste for many of us non-Brits, but I found this film far funnier than many recent American comedies that have received rave reviews ("Meet the Parents" (2000), "Something about Mary" (1998), "Analyze This" (1999), etc.). Any viewer willing to expend the effort to actually concentrate on what is going on and being said in the film will be amply rewarded. The most difficult part of viewing this movie is finding it, a problem with many of Hodges's works. Rating: 7/10.

Morons from Outer Space is ridiculous. The humour, at first glance, is very low-brow. Look beneath the surface, and the movie is rife with satire and irony. The characters are absurd, but believable in the context of their world. The real triumph of the film are the subtlety of much of the gags. It takes familiar themes of human life and extrapolates them to their most ridiculous conclusion. It is extremely silly, but I never tire of watching it.

British big-screen comedies have always lagged behind in quality when compared to British TV-series, and it's a bit of a mystery why that is. After all, a script is a script, right? To say that British films are weaker than British shows is a major understatement. UK comedies are usually terrible, even the rare successful ones like that mid-90s male-strip film or "Four Weddings & Hugh Grant's Bloody Funeral" are average at best.

MOFOS isn't that bad, but there is a sense that it could have been much better, in spite of the overly simplistic and cretinous premise. A decent budget and a cast of well-knowns indicate that a measure of optimism existed about this project. However, it's once again the script that is to blame. I have no idea why certain people got excited over this script. Nevertheless, MOFOS is watchable, rarely dull, and even provides one or two chuckle-worthy moments...

I'm sure that had Ron Howard or Peter Bogdanovich made the same exact product, MOFOS would have been praised and praised until our collective ears bled away.

There's a few chuckles in this sci-fi comedy about earth's first alien visitors being essentially a bunch of uneducated space truckers. Mel Smith co-wrote and stars in the film and somehow managed to snag respected British director Mike Hodges to helm the film. The picture was also shot by ace cinematographer Phil Meheux, who's done everything from multiple James Bond pictures to "The Smurfs" to "The Long Good Friday". However, the concept likely would have worked better as a short film or SNL skit than a feature length film and the plot drags on far too long. Worth a look, but nothing special.

Goodness knows here are many worse, and dumber, comedies out there, but its truly a shame that Smith and Jones didn't put this script through some more refinement, and hired a veteran comedy director (one who has a sense of timing), before blowing their chance at international fame. The main problem with the film is it tries to do to many things and use too many comedic styles at once. On one hand it tries to satirize our celebrity focused culture, while on another it tries to send up the conventions of science fiction films (and films in general)a la the Zuckers. At the same time that its trying to juggle those concepts, its also trying telling a story that could have been inherently funny on its own, without the distractions of the slapstick and the parodies. The idea that the first aliens to openly visit Earth are here by accident simply because they're too stupid to pilot, let alone understand the workings of, their rented spacecraft had great potential, but the movie is too distracted by everything else it tries to do for it to work. Despite its problems, there are some genuine laughs to be had here, and its well worth a watch.