Rating of
2.5/4
A comedy for all Blunt-Skulls
The M.O.W. - wrote on 08/03/08
Sent to the planet Earth to evaluate the Earth for a planned invasion, "Beldar" (Dan Aykroyd, who also co-wrote the screenplay) and his mate "Prymaat" (Jane Curtain) crash land on the planet in New York City. They do a pretty good job at blending into the everyday life, with "Beldar" getting a job.
They eventually learn that a rescue vessel will pick them up in what turns out to be a number of years, and go on with their life, eventually becoming parents to "Connie" (Michelle Rene Thomas), who grows up knowing that she is not from the planet inhabited by "blunt-skulls" (humans).
What they don't know is that an immigration agent (Michael McKeon) has learned of them, and decides to bring them in instead of informing the military, as he should have done as his butt-kissing, and highly annoying assistant (David Spade) suggested.
Now, the renamed "Conehead" family have to try to avoid a unique deportation (since they aren't from France as they claim) while awaiting rescue.
This is one of the many movies based on sketches from the long-running sketch-comedy National Broadcasting Company series, "Saturday Night Live" -- and happens to be one of the very few good adaptations. It is based on the "Coneheads" sketches from SNL back in the 1970's which featured Ayckroyd and Curtain as two aliens with heads shaped like a cones stranded on Earth trying to blend into life on the planet far from their home. This movie does a pretty good job expanding upon the universe created in the popular sketches from the show's hey day.
One joke that was in the sketches really wasn't used in this film. In the sketches, the "blunt-skulls" try to act as if the "Coneheads" were regular people. In the movie however, the "blunt-skulls" act as if the "Coneheads" are human and dont give each other a look when "Beldar" or "Prymaat" say something that only others from "Remulak" would understand. But, their responses are completely natural as if they have come to accept the "Coneheads" weird ways. I would have liked to have seen more scenes with people who have never met the "Coneheads".
One thing that is totally different from the sketches is that "Connie" acts more human. In the original sketches, she acted more like "Beldar" and "Prymaat". However, Thomas does a great job acting like a typical teen girl and is pretty fun to watch, especially when she is with Chris Farley, who plays her boyfriend.
There are a lot of jokes, mostly one-liners and visual jokes. Some are enhanced by special effects which really have not aged well (look at the Subway sandwich that "Connie" scoffs down for example. It's obviously CGI). Some of the jokes will make you laugh, but most will make you either chuckle or groan.
One thing you will notice is that there are a lot of then-current and former members of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players (the name given to the original SNL cast). There are at least two from the original SNL cast who actually were in the "Coneheads" sketches at one time of another. Other more recent cast members also make appearances in either supporting or cameo roles. Personally, I would have liked to have seen more from the original SNL cast in the movie.
Like I said earlier, there are some special effects in this movie. I could tell two things that were added in during post-production when they showed up. However, the make-up effects are still wonderful, as it actually looks as if the "Coneheads" uniquely shaped skulls could be realistic. You couldn't see one seam that showed you where the performers real skin ended, and the cone began.
This is definitely a comedy for families. There is some sexual references, but they are very mild. I also think that that most of the bad language were in the "Remulak" language, which made you fill in you own cuss word.
Sadly, the majority of the supporting cast was not well developed. I would have liked to seen more of "Beldar's" bosses from his first two jobs in the movie, who were there for the bizarre birth of "Connie". Even more major supporting cast members were pretty much under used.
I would have to say that if you want some pretty good laughs, put this in your first four choices if your first choice is not available at your local video rental store.
