Galaxy Quest (1999) - Conventions restrain Parisot's SF convention satire

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A space exploration shoots out of a giant TV set in space on this poster for Dean Parisot's Galaxy Quest

The stars of Star Trek-reminiscent sci-fi TV-series Galaxy Quest are worn down, when they get abducted by actual aliens, who wrongfully assess them to be actual space heroes.

 

Galaxy Quest is written by David Howard (Trek: The Movie (2018)) and Robert Gordon (Men in Black II (2002)) and directed by Dean Parisot (Home Fries (1998)).

The very funny premise is not translated into enough laughs in this witty space outing. Instead of leading the characters into some really grotesque scenes and some madness, Galaxy Quest sticks to corny, personal developments and its sci-fi plot, which runs out of motivation, when the space-locked stars get detailed survival advice from their cute teenage fanboy on earth (debuting Justin Long (Comet (2014))). Galaxy Quest is also visibly impressed with its own CGI effects, which feels dated.

Sigourney Weaver (You Again (2010)) is wasted in a bra. But there is some fun to be had in Galaxy Quest.

 

Related post:

 

Dean Parisot: Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) - Powerhouses Carrey and Leoni buoy Parisot's uneven farce

 

 

Watch  a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 45 mil. $

Box office: 90.6 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.01 times its cost)

[Galaxy Quest was released 23 December (Canada) and runs 102 minutes. Harold Ramis was initially slated to direct but left due to lack of belief in Tim Allen (Toy Story 2 (1999)) as a lead. Allen was paid 2 mil. $ for his performance in the film. Shooting took place from April - August 1999 in Utah and California, including Los Angeles. The film opened #7 to a 7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent a weekend at #5 two weeks later and grossed 71.5 mil. $ (78.9 % of the total gross). DreamWorks' CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg reportedly apologized personally to Parisot for failing to market the film properly. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to two notches over this one. Sequel talks have been persistent but have not resulted in anything. Parisot returned with 4 TV credits prior to his theatrical return, Fun with Dick and Jane (2005). Allen returned in Who Is Cletis Tout? (2001); Weaver in Company Man (2000); and Alan Rickman (Love Actually (2003)) with a voice performance in A Fish Tale (2000), then in Texas: In Demand (2000, video short) and with a physical theatrical performance in Blow Dry (2001). Galaxy Quest is certified fresh at 90 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Galaxy Quest?

Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) - Powerhouses Carrey and Leoni buoy Parisot's uneven farce

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+ Best On-Screen Couple of the Year: Téa Leoni & Jim Carrey

Perhaps just in case anyone doubted which genre was up here, this unsubtle poster for Dean Parisot's Fun with Dick and Jane spells out FUN in letters so big that they have to appear vertically to fit

Dick Harper gets a top job at the corporation GloboDyne, but as the company crashes soon thereafter, he and his wife are forced to sell everything they own, and they resort to robberies in order to make ends meet.

Fun with Dick and Jane is written by Judd Apatow (Love (2016-18)) and Nicholas Stoller (Storks (2016)), remaking the same-titled 1977 hit comedy by Ted Kotcheff, which starred George Segal and Jane Fonda. The new version is directed by Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest (1999)).
Jim Carrey (Horton Hears a Who! (2008)) and Téa Leoni (Madam Secretary (2014-19)) make an odd, endearing couple, and they are a joy to see clown around. Their robbery scenes are particularly funny. But the ordeal here is generally not as smartly devised or engaging as, for instance, Barry Levinson's heist comedy Bandits (2001), although Fun with Dick and Jane, with its focus on the upsetting life of poverty, does have some timeliness to it. But it is a very light thematic fencing with few laughs overall.

 

Related post:

 

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Watch the two stars shine as only two major comedic talents can in this genuinely funny clip of one of the film's robbery scenes here

Cost: 100 mil. $
Box office: 202 mil. $ 
= Flop (returned 2.02 times the cost)
[Fun with Dick and Jane was released 21 December (USA) and runs 91 minutes. The Coen brothers as writers, Barry Sonnenfeld as director and Cameron Diaz as co-star all left the project before production. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, in and around September 2004, with 2 weeks of reshoots later. The film opened #3, behind holdover hits King Kong and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, to a 14.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weeks in the top 5 (#3-#4) and grossed 110.3 mil. $ (54.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 12.2 mil. $ (6 %) and Australia with 8.6 mil. $ (4.3 %). Roger Ebert agreed with me in giving the film a 2.5/4 star review. Parisot returned with 6 TV credits before a theatrical return with RED 2 (2013). Carrey returned in The Number 23 (2007), Leoni in You Kill Me (2007). Fun with Dick and Jane is rotten at 28 % with a 4.9/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Fun with Dick and Jane?