Valley girl manicurist Valerie Dale (Geena Davis) initially thinks she is hallucinating when a spacecraft with three furry aliens crash-lands in her Los Angeles swimming pool.
The ship from the planet Jhazzala is manned by three randy furballs named Zebo, Whiploc and Mac.
No sooner do the aliens land than Valerie hurries them over to her Curl Up & Dye beauty salon for emergency electrolysis. “I see split ends are universal,” says Val’s boss and buddy, Candy Pink (Julie Brown, the cult singer/comedian who co-wrote the script and three of the film’s songs).
Presto, the red, blue and yellow ET’s are transformed into the hot hairless bods of Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans and Jeff Goldblum.
The aliens’ language – a mix of space garble and mimicked slang (“We are MTV scum”) – proves ample intellectual stimulation for these Val girls. “I can’t believe you’re frenching an alien in front of all these people,” says a shocked Davis when Julie Brown goes gaga over Whiploc.
Davis astonishes herself later when she lets Goldblum zap her into bed.
Given the onscreen silliness, Goldblum and Davis – husband and wife offscreen – manage to make an unlikely love story quietly touching.
Davis and Brown are terrific in a popcorn movie that’s full of bitchy one-liners and frothy fantasy.
There’s no attempt at a reality check in this hairsprayed musical satire, just breezy glitz, garish glamour and Grease-type songs in a contemporary trash setting.
Valerie Dale
Geena Davis Mac
Jeff Goldblum Whiploc
Jim Carrey Zebo
Damon Wayans Candy Pink
Julie Brown Ted
Charles Rocket Woody
Michael McKean Dr Bob
Larry Linville
Director
Julien Temple
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