Horndogs from Outer Space

This is my entry in the Jeff Goldblum Blogathon hosted by Realweegiemidget Reviews and Emma K Wall Explains it All

Imagine if you will a film with Jeff Goldblum as an outsider trying to cope with the changes in his life.

Imagine Geena Davis as a woman who is struggling with feelings for the outsider.

Imagine the two developing a relationship, despite the significant differences between the human Davis and the "not-so-human" Goldblum.

No, it's not the David Cronenberg adaptation of The Fly.  It's a piece of late 80's fluff called Earth Girls are Easy.  Featuring Goldblum as well as early appearances by Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans as aliens who end up crash landing in Valley girl Davis' swimming pool.  And a story, not entirely uncommon, of the aliens trying to adapt to the "strange new world" that they find themselves in.

It also stars Julie Brown, the iconic singer of such Dr. Demento type songs as "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun" and the song that inspired this movie "Earth Girls are Easy".

Earth Girls are Easy (1988):

Mac (Jeff Golblum), Wiploc (Jim Carrey) and Zeebo (Damon Wayans), a trio of furry aliens (who look like they are wearing carpets for clothes, but it's their fur) are traveling through space when the ineptness of Wiploc and Zeebo cause the ship they are on to crash land in the swimming pool of Valerie (Geena Davis).

(L-R: Valerie, Mac, Wiploc and Zeebo)

Of course, the main reason that the three crash is because they are suffering from that stigma that affects all males, apparently even aliens, from time to time...they are horny.  And attracted to the strange but extremely attractive hairless girls they have seen on the scope in their ship.  So the crash may not be entirely an accident.

Valerie, for her part, is having a difficult time with her fiance.  Dr. Ted (Charles Rocket) is committed to the impending marriage with Valerie, but he is also prone to having flings on the side with attractive nurses.  And when Ted comes home thinking he will be alone with his new conquest of the moment, he finds Valerie and she discovers his infidelity and kicks him out.

Meanwhile the rocket ship from space crash lands.  In her pool.  And out come the blue furred Mac, red-furred Wiploc and yellow-furred Zeebo.  Valerie initially freaks out, but she is very adaptable, apparently, because she gets over it rather quickly.  She invites them into her apartment where they begin to learn English (by watching TV, no less.)

She takes the three to her job as a hairdresser where she convinces her friend and fellow hairdresser Candy (Julie Brown) to shave the three and make them look normal.  And what a job she does of it.  At least they "look" normal.  But their adaptability to life on Earth may be a bit more complicated.  First, their initial learning of the English language comes from watching TV.  Which leads to some hilarious moments, especially when Candy and Valerie take them to the local dance club.

Eventually, Valerie's on and off relationship with Dr. Ted leads her to be a bit sullen and it's Mac to the rescue.  He consoles her (in more ways than one) and she finds herself becoming more attracted to him.

Chaos ensues when Zeebo and Wiploc inadvertently rob a convenience store and try to escape driving a car (which of course they have no idea how to operate, but since they were responsible for crashing the spaceship, too, it's not surprising...) 

All of this leads to them being brought to the emergency room where Dr Ted, who thinks they are really a rock band that Valerie is flirting with on the side, decides to examine them and discovers, lo and behold, they aren't exactly "human".

Two things about this movie come up as a little strange.  First, about 15 minutes into the movie I found out something I didn't know before committing to reviewing it.  It suddenly turns into a musical!  (OK, so Julie Brown's presence and credit for writing it should have been a clue, but I'm not always quick on the draw...) 

It wasn't the first science-fiction musical to ever come down the pike.  That credit (probably) goes to The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  The second thing is, when I tried to find this movie on Amazon, one of the options was as one of the films in a multi-pack of horror movies.  Note:  there is almost no horror in this film, unless you count the bizarre nightmare Valerie has after spending an evening in the sack with Mac.

The musical aspect didn't put a damper on the shindig for me.  The songs aren't entirely memorable, but they had a feel of the late 80's pop culture, something I still like, so it wasn't entirely bad.  The goofiness of the movie is endearing, and maybe if it had had nobodies as stars it might have been annoying.  But Carrey and Wayans work together great.  (If you liked In Living Color, you'll probably like this film, too.)

The movie also features Michael McKean as a ditzy surfer dude.  Gotta tell you.  I saw his name in the opening credits, but I had to watch the closing credits to see which character he played.

Well, folks, the Plymouth rocket ship is finally repaired.  Time to head back to my home planet.  Drive safely, folks.

Quiggy