Coneheads * (1993, Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, Michelle Burke, Chris Farley, David Spade) – Classic Movie Review 9694

Director Steve Barron’s 1993 sci-fi spoof Coneheads stars an impressive line-up in Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, Michelle Burke, Laraine Newman, Phil Hartman, Dave Thomas, Michael McKean, Jason Alexander, Lisa Jane Persky, Adam Sandler, Sinbad, Jan Hooks, Chris Farley, David Spade and Tim Meadows.

A Saturday Night Live TV running sketch becomes a wisp of a comedy movie, in which Aykroyd and Curtin play alien couple Beldar and Prymatt, emissaries from Remulak, a planet within the Cone Nebula, 26 light years from Earth. They belong to a civilisation intent on expanding its empire by enslaving the population of other worlds, hence the Coneheads’ mission – to conquer Earth.

When a wrong turn at Machu Pichu crash-lands them in the middle of New York’s East River, they find themselves stranded and forced to assimilate into mainstream America. Chased by immigration agent from hell, INS Deputy Commissioner Gorman Seedling (Michael McKean), the Coneheads find safe haven in Paramus, New Jersey, where they become typical hard-working parents, raising their 16-year-old daughter Connie Conehead (Michelle Burke).

Despite plenty of signs of imagination and all the efforts of the talented star duo, this amiable spoof is hardly ever funny. A lot of the dialogue is unfathomable, the plot poorly constructed and the comic potential of the characters and culture clash unrealised.

It is written by Tom Davis, Dan Aykroyd, Bonnie Turner and Terry Turner.

Also in the cast are Kevin Nealon, Robert Knott, Dave Thomas, Tom Arnold, Jon Lovitz, Joey Lauren Adams, Parker Posey, Julia Sweeney, Ellen DeGeneres, Walter Robles, Todd Susman, James Keane, and Danielle Aykroyd (as three-year old Connie) and Nicolette Harnish (as 10-year old Connie).

It is Sandler’s official film debut proper after appearances in Going Overboard and Shakes the Clown. It is the feature film debut of Joey Lauren Adams.

Coneheads went straight to video in the UK.

It is inoffensive but rated PG for comic nudity and some double entendre humour.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9694

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