Coneheads (1993)

the audience applauded

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

A Surprisingly Unforgettable Movie!

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

To be honest this movie sucks. So many big actors in it. Plot is dumb. Everything is dumb. Dan's nose is all I thought of from Nothing But Trouble.

Beldar (Dan Aykroyd) and Prymatt Conehead (Jane Curtin) are aliens from Remulak scouting for an invasion when they're shot down by an American fighter jet. They crash in the waters off NYC. Beldar fixes appliances for Otto (Sinbad). Prymatt has a surprise coming. They get fake identities Donald R. DeCicco and Mary Margaret DeCicco. INS agent Gorman Seedling (Michael McKean) and his weasel underling Eli Turnbull (David Spade) are after the fake IDs. Years later, the Coneheads are in suburbia. Seedling is up for nomination but his failed capture of the Coneheads is still holding him back. Connie Conehead (Michelle Burke) starts dating Ronnie Bradford (Chris Farley).The Conehead skit works best as a suburban family with a frustrated teen. It doesn't really need the prequel and the first act is unnecessary. The montage is perfectly good at delivering the origin story. The Seedling story is there to ramp up the unnecessary drama. I have a bit of fun seeing the old SNL people. Dan and Jane extend their SNL performance without giving much more. Michelle Burke is fine as the younger Conehead but she needs more comedic charisma. This could have been a fun teen comedy but she's not big enough and Farley is doing too much. He's not the only one doing too much. The point of the skit is the humor of seeing normal suburbanites not noticing the outrageous antics of the Coneheads. The other characters shouldn't be competing against Beldar and Prymatt. The story doesn't have enough heart. The jokes aren't hitting that hard and ultimately, that's what is holding it back. It's the not the worst SNL but that's not saying much.

Dan Aykroyd and fellow writers from TV's long-running "Saturday Night Live" wrote this Sci-Fi comedy. Aykroyd had a way with subtlety in his comedy, and would slip in sensitive matter at times. It wasn't in- your-face mockery or blatant poking, but gentle treatment that was amusing. It would usually dawn on the audience that there was a gentle, humorous poke or statement that would make one smile. It's often easy to miss the subtle with so much more of the obvious attacks of humor.I think we see a lot of that in Coneheads. Their outlandish appearance with those long, pointed heads, makes us laugh initially, and then chuckle a few more times in the film. Yet, the human beings on earth – in America where they land and take up residence, seem oblivious to their appearance. I think that's a jab at reality. The message is that we're supposed to be accepting of people who are different. OK, but here, it's as though no one notices the obvious differences in the Coneheads.I remember a charity program that my work establishment held each year in the late 1980s and early 1990s. We picked a single charity each year to benefit from a few events during one week – a dance, a lunch or dinner, a fair. At the outdoor picnic fund-raising fair one year, a table had T-shirts that read, "Love sees no color." I understood what they intended, but it struck me as wrong. It seemed to deny the reality of our nature – our vision. As such, it suggested indifference. Rather, love should notice differences and accept them, not deny them. Because denying differences, or turning a blind eye, denies the person. I talked with people at the table about it and after a short time, they had new T-shirts that read, "Love sees all colors." That was a more truthful and much better message about acceptance.Of course, the presence of the Coneheads is anything but subtle, and I think that's a big piece of the humor. It pokes fun at the societal mores of the time that deny natural senses. And, this film has more subtleties. The way the Coneheads speak with rearranged sentences and choice words is hilarious. We know what they are doing as writers and actors, and yet it's very funny. But it doesn't seem to be out of the ordinary with the people they encounter.Then, there's Beldar's skills that show his advanced knowledge. He drives a taxi and yet he has so much knowledge and inventive skills. Think about many immigrants over the decades. Skilled craftsmen, professionals, even doctors have come to the U.S. to flee persecution or oppression, and they wind up in everyday blue-collar jobs. I think this film had a lot of social messaging intertwined in the sci-fi humor. Or, maybe it was designed as a social commentary with the sci-fi and humor as the medium. Anyway, the comedy of this film is much better than many of the IMDb reviewers seem to think. Yet this was a highly successful box office film in 1993. When I first saw it in the theater back then, a sizable audience seemed to enjoy it no end. At least, judging from the comments and laughter I heard leaving the theater. Perhaps mankind is losing its sense of humor and cognitive abilities with our growing dependence on anti- social media.

I recently saw "Coneheads" on TV, and, though is silly, sometimes has pleasant gags and funny moments. It's the story about a family of aliens who come to the Earth to reconnaissance it, and soon they are adapted to the life of America and its customs. But Mr. and Mrs. Conehead still yearn their native planet, though they had done a new life on Earth. As I said, this movie has great moments, but gets flat on the stretch. Not the best work of Dan Akyroyd, but it's still enjoyable. A funny quote: Beldar Conehead: An owner's manual to a Ford Lincoln Mercury Sable. Highmaster: Ford Lincoln Mercury Sable? Beldar Conehead: A personal conveyance named after its inventor, an assassinated ruler, a character from Greco-Roman myth and a small furry mammal. Highmaster: Ah.