What Planet Are You From? (2000)

Synopsis: When it comes to connecting with women, men might as well be from another planet -- but Harold (Garry Shandling of HBO's The Larry Sanders Show) has a good excuse -- he really is from another... When it comes to connecting with women, men might as well be from another planet -- but Harold (Garry Shandling of HBO's The Larry Sanders Show) has a good excuse -- he really is from another planet.

From OscarŽ-winning director Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Working Girl, The Birdcage) comes the cosmic battle-of-the-sexes WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM?, a hilariously offbeat, down-and-dirty comedy about men, women and the universe in between.

The year is 2,999. Four solar systems and three generations away from Earth lies a highly evolved world populated by what appears to be male life forms. When one of them, Harold, is sent to Earth on a mission to impregnate a woman and have a child, he quickly learns that traveling halfway across the universe was the easy part.

Upon his arrival to Earth, Harold befriends Perry Gordon (Greg Kinnear), a horny, morally challenged specimen of the human male, and together they scope Phoenix for women. To Harold, however, female Earthlings prove to be an immensely diverse and complicated species. On the prowl for the ideal woman with whom he can mate, the alien encounters a wide spectrum of potential candidates: a charming, almost frigid stewardess (Judy Greer), a topless waitress (Anastasia Sakelaris), Perry's sexually aggressive wife, Helen (Linda Fiorentino), and finally, Susan (OscarŽ nominee Annette Bening), a recovering alcoholic who's about to embark on a new life.

As Harold tries his inept hand at dating, he falls victim to the courting and mating anxieties that plague all Earthlings. Neither the leader of his planet nor an Earth simulator could have prepared him for the challenges he would face in his pursuit of a consenting female human­especially Roland Jones (John Goodman), a high-strung FAA agent who's hot on Harold's tail.

It soon becomes clear in this bawdy comedy of errors that no matter what race, religion or planet of origin, men will always be men.

WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? is a comedy light years away from what you might expect from Nichols­complete with a few running gags about the male member courtesy of Garry Shandling. "As I'm thinking of all the things in life that are available to us, there is nothing better to me than a good p**** joke," Shandling says. "I'm a comedian, and I'm a man. I actually said to my doctor, 'My p**** is burning.' And he said that just means someone's talking about it."

Columbia Pictures presents WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM?, a comedy directed by Mike Nichols, starring Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, Greg Kinnear, Ben Kingsley, Linda Fiorentino and John Goodman. The story is by Garry Shandling & Michael Leeson, and the screenplay is by Garry Shandling & Michael Leeson and Ed Solomon and Peter Tolan. The film is produced by Mike Nichols, Garry Shandling and Neil Machlis. The executive producers are Brad Grey and Bernie Brillstein. Michele Imperato-Stabile is the co-producer and the film is edited by Richard Marks. The director of photography is Michael Ballhaus, A.S.C.; the production designer is Bo Welch. Ann Roth, a 2000 Academy AwardŽ nominee for The Talented Mr. Ripley, is the costume designer. [More]

Starring: Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, John Goodman, Greg Kinnear

Starring: Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, John Goodman, Greg Kinnear, Ben Kingsley, Linda Fiorentino, Camryn Manheim, Nora Dunn, Janeane Garofalo

Director: Mike Nichols

Director: Mike Nichols
Screenwriter: Garry Shandling, Michael Leeson, Ed Solomon, Peter Tolan
Producer: Neil A. Machlis, Mike Nichols, Garry Shandling
Composer: Carter Burwell

[See More Credits]