Thanks for checking out our Forgotten Fridays feature. This is a feature to review some older films that maybe you have forgotten about or maybe never got around to seeing that we just want to share. They may not be old, maybe not forgotten, but they are not new. Just fun to share.
Today, we review My Stepmother is an Alien
Genre: Comedy/SciFi
Directed by: Richard Benjamin
Staring: Dan Aykroyd, Kim Basinger, Jon Lovitz, Alyson Hannigan
Released: December 9th 1988
THE GENERAL IDEA
An alien is sent on a secret mission to Earth, where she appears as a gorgeous, attractive, and single lady. Her mission is to make contact with a rather nerdy young scientist, who’s quite overwhelmed by her attentions, and isn’t aware of the connection between her arrival and his work.
THE GOOD
Kim Bassinger is infectiously beautiful in this and no matter how hot she looks in anything else, I just always remember this as being her most attractive. Mostly because shes appealing to begin with but her odd and alien understanding combined with her incredibly likable laugh and quirky personality just sells the whole package.
The movie is fun and silly and suspends your disbelief for a whirlwind tale of a crazy man who falls helplessly in love and marries a girl and saves an alien civilization all within 24 hours. The film is good natured fun that pokes at our Earth Customs as strange and unusual while she attempts to understand our culture. Things we take for granted like a kiss are completely lost on Celeste.
This film also introduced the world to Alyson Hannigan and while she would later move on to the American Pie movies, and TV’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer and How I met your Mother, this was where she got her start. Also briefly in the film, she goes on a date with a very young and nerdy Seth Green (who she reunites with later in Buffy)
THE BAD
The movie premise might have had more impact if they gave the aliens a bigger time frame to manouever her into his life and discover his secrets as it just seems a bit far fetched that she could solidify herself into his life in one day (and I am using that in the perspective that there is an alien woman with superpowers who eats batteries and carries an alien eye in her purse)
The movie’s moves VERY fast and takes some mental liberties with leaps of logic. This takes some of the value away from the tearful goodbye scene at the end of the movie.
OVERALL
Good family fun that even touches on adult themes. Moves a little quick with leaps of logic, but the story is moving too fast to worry about all of that.
Since all of these Forgotten Friday reviews are going to be what I would already give a high rating to, I had a Tv, Rent or Buy scale going on, but it would seem that an overwhelming majority of my picks get a BUY rating.
So with every Forgotten Friday you see from now on, you get to rate your anticipation for yourself!
TV – If you are at least a little curious, catch it if it comes on TV.
Rent – If it is something you have heard of and forgotten, or just remember enjoying this as much as I did once upon a time, go rent it.
Buy – But if you are like me, and you agree with my review you should go buy it. If its featured here, I already have.
