Tucson Weekly: The Fat And The Skinny (February 18

The Fat And The Skinny

Our Bargain-Basement Siskel And Ebert Take A Whack At 'My Favorite Martian.'
By James DiGiovanna and Zachary Woodruff
THIS WEEK, FORMER Tucson Weekly film critic Zak Woodruff and current reviewer James DiGiovanna discuss the latest movie-based-on-a-TV-series, My Favorite Martian.
Zak: Oh boy, I get to go first. Well, the whole thing seemed very familiar: Christopher Lloyd plays an eccentric with access to advanced technology who shows up in a flying car and has to get back to where he came from in a set amount of time.
James: Back to the Future?
Zak: Duh.
James: That's very clever--I wish I'd thought of that.
Zak: Well, you'll say you did.
James: How come you're not the regular film reviewer any more?
Zak: Don't ask. Anyway, the whole movie is based on an Odd Couple scenario with Christopher Lloyd and Jeff Daniels in the Oscar and Felix roles.
James: Except that Christopher Lloyd comes down from Mars, attacks Jeff Daniels, Jeff Daniels retaliates with a golf club to the head, Christopher Lloyd slams Jeff Daniels into the ceiling, then suddenly they're best friends. There's no intervening scene to explain it: It's just a fight then they're buddies. It had the same internal cinematic logic as Showgirls.
Zak: But Showgirls was actually funny.
James: Did you know that Showgirls director Paul Verhoeven has a Ph.D. in math and physics?
Zak: Has anyone ever told you that you're a boob and a bore?
James: It's been mentioned. Okay. Anyway--My Favorite Martian is supposed to be a kid's movie, but it has all these really creepy, sexist scenes--Like, Christopher Lloyd, who's the Martian, has this living suit that leaps off his body, leaving him naked all the time. Then the suit goes and starts spanking some woman in a clothing store dressing room.
Zak: When I was a kid that was the sort of thing that would have turned me on, although I wouldn't have known I was turned on.
James: So it's like pornography for children?
Zak: Basically, but they won't know it for another 15 years.
James: So--there's two female characters, the good blonde (Daryl Hannah) and the evil brunette (Elizabeth Hurley).
Zak: Like in Archie comics--which, come to think of it, also turned me on as a kid.
James: --
Zak: Sorry.
James: But they're both really two dimensional--.
Zak: Unlike Archie comics.
James: And Jeff Daniels plays a guy who's in love with the brunette and whom the blonde is in love with.
Zak: Like Archie.
James: Yeah, it's that same dopey idea: the guy likes the girl who's mean to him.
Zak: And Christopher Lloyd's Martian is like Jughead.
James: Except the Christopher Lloyd character is always attacking women and sticking his tongue down their throats, and they, of course, just swoon and love it. It's a very enlightened film.
Zak: To prove it, there's an enlightened message at the end.
James: Yeah, for no reason, and without precedent, Christopher Lloyd's character says, "You humans are going to be okay if you just take care of your oceans." After a series of poop jokes, this seemed a bit odd.
Zak: What is it with the flood of movies with poop jokes lately? George of the Jungle, Dr. Dolittle, Nutty Professor, Flubber--I've blocked many of them out.
James: It seems to be a Disney thing. Anyway--while we're on the topic, what would be a good TV show to turn into a movie?
Zak: I bet Gilligan's Island is coming down the pike sometime soon. Probably with Julianne Moore as Ginger.
James: I'd like to see The McLaughlin Group: The Motion Picture. Or The McLaughlin Group: The Revenge of Pat Buchanan.
Zak: I wonder if we're as funny as we think we are.
James: I doubt it. Back to My Favorite Martian. It was notable in being a comedy with no laughs.
Zak: Was there anything you liked about the movie?
James: I kind of liked the fact that it was a continuation of the TV series, rather than just a film based on the series. The continuity of the series still held: Ray Walston, who played the Martian in the TV show, was in the movie, playing the same character, who'd been stuck on earth since the '60s.
Zak: It's kind of like if they'd had Adam West play Batman, with his saggy gut and all.
James: Yeah, that would have been touching. How about you? Did you like anything about it?
Zak: The fact that Jeff Daniels got to kiss Daryl Hannah. They make a nice little couple. A couple of blondes.
James: Yeah, blondes are cool.
Zak: Yeah.
My Favorite Martian is playing at Century Gateway (792-9000), Century Park (620-0750), and Foothills (742-6174) cinemas.

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