Themes: Opposites Attract, Fish Out of Water, Benign Aliens
Main Cast: Geena Davis, Jeff Goldblum, Julie Brown, Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans
Release Year: 1989
Country: UK/US
Run Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
In this madcap comedy, Geena Davis plays Valerie, a manicurist living in the valley with her cold fiancé, Dr. Ted Gallagher (Charles Rocket). At the Curl Up and Dye beauty salon where she works, Valerie enlists the help of her boss, Candy Pink (Julie Brown), for some style advice to try and win back Ted's affections. After undergoing a brand-new hairstyle, Valerie learns that Ted is having an affair and she kicks him out of the house. Soon, while lounging around in her bikini, a spaceship from the planet Jhazzalan crash-lands in her swimming pool. Curious, Valerie befriends the ship's inhabitants -- three horny aliens covered in fur named Mac (Jeff Goldblum), Whiploc (Jim Carrey), and Zeebo (Damon Wayans). Introducing her new friends to Candy, the aliens get a shave and a total makeover transformation into hot, available dates. They all go out dancing at L.A. nightclubs and party. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Review
A cinematic trifle of science fiction and romantic comedy, Earth Girls Are Easy is a harmless delight with bold production design and a likeable star. British director Julien Temple, who helmed the Sex Pistols documentaries The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle and The Filth and the Fury, is at his best when directing the musical numbers. Featuring bright colors and exuberant set decor, these music video-style segments are good trashy fun, co-written by and starring the self-parodying Julie Brown. The narrative is a lightheartedly satiric view of the disposable life in the valley, made endurable with the good-natured and quirky main character, Valerie (Geena Davis), who carries the movie through some rough spots with her naïve charm. Having the captain of the alien ship played by Davis' real-life husband at the time, Jeff Goldblum, brings some genuine warmth to what is otherwise just a silly love story. As the other two aliens, Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans (stars of the early-'90s Fox TV series In Living Color) get some predictable laughs in their misappropriations of pop culture, warping of TV commercials, and alien-ized valley slang. Their behavior doesn't matter, however, in the madcap throwaway logic of this movie, as long as they look hot and datable. Featuring a late-'80s pop soundtrack including Brown's hit "'Cause I'm a Blonde," Earth Girls Are Easy is enjoyably entertaining fluff. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Charles Rocket - Dr. Ted Gallagher; Michael McKean - Woody, Pool Boy; Angelyne - Gas Girl; June C. Ellis - Mrs. Merkin; Lucy Lee Flippin - Receptionist; Larry Linville - Dr. Bob; Steve Lundquist - Body Factory Attendant; Felix Montano - Ramon; Leslie Morris - Mike the Cop; Gail Neely - Head Nurse; Tita Omeze - Tanya; Rick Overton - Dr. Rick; Diane Stilwell - Robin; Larri Thomas - Curl Up and Dye Dancer; Stacey Travis - Tammy; Nedra Volz - Lana; Terrence E. McNally - Soap Opera Doctor; Wayne "Crescendo" Ward - Demone; Lisa Fuller - Kikki; Victor Garron - Deca Dance Valet; Susan Krebs - Bryan's Mother; Lisa Boyle - Curl Up and Dye Dancer
Credit
Dina Danielson - Art Director, Dins Danielsen - Art Director, Terrence E. McNally - Associate Producer, Wallis Nicita - Casting, Sarah Elgart - Choreography, Linda M. Bass - Costume Designer, Julien Temple - Director, Richard Halsey - Editor, Nile Rodgers - Composer (Music Score), Ray Colcord - Songwriter, Richard Arrington - Makeup, Dennis Gassner - Production Designer, Oliver Stapleton - Cinematographer, Tony Garnett - Producer, Duncan Henderson - Producer, Nancy Haigh - Set Designer, Anna Behlmer - Sound/Sound Designer, Julie Brown - Screenwriter, Charlie Coffey - Screenwriter, Terrence E. McNally - Screenwriter, Robert "Bobby Z" Zajonc - Pilot
The movie begins with three aliens, a blue one, a red one, and a yellow one, flying in a spaceship. While watching a music holographic video of a multi-coloured woman, they come across Earth.
Valerie Gail (Davis) is a valley girlmanicurist who works for the "Curl Up & Dye" hair salon. When she feels her cold fiancé Dr. Ted Gallagher (Rocket) is slipping away from her, she attempts to seduce him with a new look; instead she catches him cheating on her. She kicks him out and refuses to see him until the wedding. The next day, she is sunbathing when a spaceship housing three aliens crash lands in her pool. Not knowing what to do, she takes them to her best friend Candy Pink (Brown, who also co-wrote and co-produced). After shaving off the aliens' fur, they turn out to be attractive men. They all go out and party at Los Angelesnightclubs.
The three aliens — Wiploc (Carrey), the red alien; Zeebo (Wayans), the yellow alien; and Mac (Goldblum), the blue alien — absorb human (American) culture through ten minutes of television, and Valerie takes them out into the human world. Valerie and Mac discover that they are much better off together, and escape into space once the ship has been fixed.
Nominated: Worst Supporting Actress, Angelyne (1990) (To note, Angelyne appears in the film for less than two minutes.)
Stage show
In 2005 a staged reading/performance of a musical play version of the film was performed several times in Los Angeles. The character of Valerie was played by Kristin Chenoweth, with Julie Brown reprising her role as Candy. The play did not go into production.
