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Coneheads (film)

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Coneheads
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySteve Barron
Screenplay byTom Davis
Dan Aykroyd
Bonnie Turner
Terry Turner
Based onConeheads sketches from Saturday Night Live
by Lorne Michaels
Produced byLorne Michaels
Starring
CinematographyFrancis Kenny
Edited byPaul Trejo
Music byDavid Newman
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • July 23, 1993 (1993-07-23)
Running time
87 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million
Box office$21 million[2]

Coneheads is a 1993 American science-fiction comedy film released by Paramount Pictures. It is produced by Lorne Michaels, directed by Steve Barron, and stars Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, and Michelle Burke. The film is based on the NBC Saturday Night Live comedy sketches about aliens stranded on Earth, who have Anglicized their Remulakian surname "Clorhone" to "Conehead". Michelle Burke takes over the role played by Laraine Newman on SNL. The film also features roles and cameos by actors and comedians from SNL and other television series of the time, such as Michael McKean, David Spade, Michael Richards, Sinbad, Adam Sandler, Jan Hooks, Chris Farley, Jason Alexander, Phil Hartman, Drew Carey, Kevin Nealon, Julia Sweeney, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, Tim Meadows, Tom Arnold, and Jon Lovitz.

Three years after the release of Coneheads, screenwriters Bonnie & Terry Turner and star Jane Curtin revisited the premise of aliens arriving on Earth and assimilating into American society with the TV show 3rd Rock from the Sun, with Curtin instead playing a human character.

Coneheads has often been recognized as a allegorical commentary on the immigrant experience in America. Its storyline traces the experiences of Beldar and Prymaat, and later their native-born daughter Connie, from their humble beginnings to the point where "stability and contentment have been achieved".

Plot

[edit]

In the early 1990s, upon discovering a UFO in U.S. airspace, the New Jersey Air National Guard sends F-16 fighter jets to investigate, who fire on the unresponsive craft and cause it to crash into the Atlantic Ocean, near Manhattan. The aliens are from the planet Remulak, Fuel-Survey Underlord Beldar Clorhone and his wife Prymaat Clorhone, and they survive aboard the crashed alien spacecraft.

Dispatched by Highmaster Mintot, Beldar's and Prymaat's assigned mission was to conquer the Earth for Planet Remulak. Needing immediate accommodations for the night, Beldar Clorhone (Dan Aykroyd) and Prymaat Clorhone (Jane Curtin) still clad in their alien uniforms, proceed to a motel, and for the first time we see alien abilities on the part of Prymaat. She tilts her cone-shaped head at a vending machine, and her cone-head emits blue lightning, and causes the machine to spew coins through its coin-return slot. Prymaat salvages a momentary tense situation with the motel clerk (Michael Richards) by declaring "we shall remunerate with metallic tender disks!" They are later seen in one of the motel's rooms, having disassembled the television set and Beldar is seen sucking all of the toilet paper off the roll in the bathroom, and sampling the taste of the soap.

Somewhere in the New York City area, Beldar becomes an appliance repairman, now clad in work clothes which include denim overalls and a naugahyde apron. At one point, Beldar ducks out for lunch to their trailer, "sears the top of his neck hole" with a hot slice of pizza, and cools it down by spraying some Windex into his mouth. Upon discovering Beldar's and Prymaat's undocumented-alien status when Beldar quotes a "Social Security Number" with the wrong number of digits and including a decimal point, his boss, Otto (Sinbad), gets Beldar and Prymaat false identities and backgrounds from a local Identity forger (Adam Sandler). Beldar's use of the forged documents are flagged in the computer database of the INS (now known as the USCIS).

Otto tells Beldar "you have got to do something about those teeth!" so Beldar sees a dentist (Jon Lovitz), and dislocates his jaw to allow the dentist to cap all of his several rows of pointed teeth.

Ambitious INS agent Gorman Seedling (Michael McKean) and his sycophantic assistant Eli Turnbull (David Spade) make several unsuccessful attempts to capture the couple, the first one forces Beldar and Prymaat to hastily abandon their trailer in the lot behind Otto's. Seedling and Turnbull examine the Remulakian uniforms, mistaking them for "Mardi Gras suits", a Spacecraft safety card with Remulakian text on it, and a key fob depicting the aligned Remukian moons.

Prymaat informs Beldar she is "with Cone". The Coneheads are able to use a device Beldar assembles from appropriated parts from Otto's workbench supplies and the Coneheads are told by Marlax (Phil Hartman) that a rescue ship will not be arriving for many years ("seven Zerls"). Despite their odd appearance and metallic voices, the Clorhones seek to blend in with human society. Beldar and Prymaat resettle as tenants in the basement of the home of an immigrant family engaged in the business of taxi-driving and, over time, while Beldar "works nights", Prymaat saves the couple's money for a down payment on a modest suburban home.

After their daughter Connie's birth, they adopt the surname "Conehead", buy a home, and move to suburban Paramus, New Jersey, where Beldar opens a business called "Meepzor Driving Academy", a driving school Beldar advertises in the yellow pages, and using his own Mercury Sable.

Meanwhile, Gorman terminates his pursuit of the Coneheads, now known as the "DeCicco case", after getting a promotion, but an inquiry by a U.S. Senator (Kevin Nealon), citing the heavy expense, demands that the case be properly concluded.

The now-teenaged Connie (Michelle Burke), who has grown up among Earth's norms and American culture, wants to fit in with her peers, though her father greatly objects, especially when Connie "decorates her Cone" with a butterfly decal, wears makeup that Beldar refers to as "too much lip-and-cheek enhancement", and begins seeing auto mechanic Ronnie Bradford (Chris Farley), whom Connie impresses with her Remulakian eating ability, known with some reverence as "the consumption of mass quantities", consuming an entire foot-long Subway submarine sandwich in one gulp.

Gorman and Eli track the Coneheads to their home. They attempt a more direct approach, posing as Jehovah's Witnesses to surreptitiously gain entry to the Conehead's home under false pretences, in a violation of the Fourth Amendment. Beldar and Prymaat describe themselves as French and conversing with Seedling and Turnbull in perfect French. Beldar, Prymaat and Connie are dressed for a country club Halloween soiree, with Beldar disguising his Cone with a Lincolnesque stovepipe hat, Prymaat disguising her Cone as a lipstick, and Connie discussing her Cone with Disney Princess decorative pointed hat, excited to be attending with Ronnie, attired in a James Dean costume.

During the conversation, in which Beldar falsely tells Seedling that they are American citizens, Seedling breaks character to demand "do you have proof?", they are interrupted by what they describe the phone ringing, which Beldar asks Prymaat to answer.

Prymaat discovers that the sound is their Remulakian communication device, and Prymaat says hurriedly to Beldar, "no, Beldar, the Big phone!" Beldar ejects the two promptly. Beldar is then notified by Marlax of their approaching and arriving rescue vessel, that very night.

After Connie is told of their imminent rescue, she informs her parents she wants to stay on Earth with Ronnie. The INS arrives in the cul-de-sac to arrest the Coneheads, Seedling smugly waving his INS badge at them as he approaches.

Ronnie helps stall the agents, yelling out the rear window of the police cruiser that he loves Connie, while the Remulakian rescue space vessel arrives just in time. Gorman leaps at the last second to grab the car's rear tire, and Eli, calling out to Seedling, grabs on to Seedling's feet. Seedling and Turnbull are, along with the spacecraft-grappled car, taken aboard the Remulakian vessel, with the Coneheads.

On Remulak, Beldar is welcomed home, presenting the Highmaster with various Earthly 'gifts', including Gorman and Eli as slaves. Initially satisfied with Beldar's accomplishments, Mintot notices that Beldar's sharp teeth have been capped (as Otto had advised Beldar to do to blend in), accuses him of treasonous alteration of his "trelgs", and sentences him to fight the ferocious Garthok (known as "narfling the Garthak", which greatly distresses Prymaat.

After the Garthak easily and gruesomely kills other condemned individuals, Beldar uses his Earthly golfing skills to hit a rock into the Garthok's mouth, causing it to choke and lay prostrate on the ground of the "narfling maze", certainly disabled, if not dead.

The Highmaster pardons Beldar and accedes to Beldar's request to return to Earth with Gorman as Beldar's prisoner. Eli stays behind and becomes Mintot's new flunky. The Conehead depart for Earth with Prymaat and Connie, with Gorman in a special liquid-filled cylinder, in their attack spacecraft.

Beldar realizes his love for his daughter should take precedence over Connie's feelings over planetary conquest by faking an Earth attack, and Beldar warns the invasion force of non-existent Earth weapons, and orders his invasion force to retreat and proceed to their secondary target in another part of the galaxy, while making it look like a superior weapon has destroyed his spaceship.

As a reward for rescuing him, Gorman agrees to give the Coneheads green cards. Ronnie takes Connie to their senior prom while the Conehead family settles down to a happy life on their adopted planet of Earth.

Cast

[edit]

In addition to Jane Curtin appearing as a regular cast member, Jan Hooks, Phil Hartman, Julia Sweeney, Kevin Nealon, and Laraine Newman all appeared as guest stars on 3rd Rock from the Sun, which was created by Coneheads co-writers Bonnie and Terry Turner and featured a similar premise of aliens making efforts to assimilate into American society. Additionally, co-writer Terry Turner cameos in the film as the sketch artist that Seedling describes Beldar to.

Michelle Burke, Parker Posey, and Joey Lauren Adams would all appear in Dazed and Confused, which was released 2 months after Coneheads.

Production

[edit]

Tom Davis, who created the characters on Saturday Night Live, wrote the first version of the screenplay. He was unhappy with choices made by the producers, including setting the Remulak scenes in a gladiators' arena, rather than the suburban environment that he envisioned.[3]

While there are some differences, Coneheads mostly follows the same plot as in the animated special that was created ten years earlier. Similarities include the Coneheads being stranded on Earth, Beldar working as an appliance repair man, and Connie dating an earthling named Ronnie.

The film mostly takes place in Paramus, New Jersey. Some scenes were filmed in New York City and the New Jersey towns of Jersey City and Wrightstown.

Reception

[edit]

The film debuted at No. 6 on its opening weekend, while its domestic box office grossed $7,100,501.[4] By the end of its domestic theatrical run, the film had grossed $21,074,717.[2]

Coneheads received generally negative reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a low score of 35%, based on 31 reviews with a consensus that reads, "Listless, crude, and overall uninspired, Coneheads offers further evidence that stretching an SNL sketch to feature length can be tougher than narfling a garthok."[5] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 49 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[6] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B+" on scale of A+ to F.[7]

Roger Ebert gave the film 1+1⁄2 stars out of 4, describing Coneheads as "dismal, dreary and fairly desperate" and the actors as unable to overcome an uninspired screenplay.[8] Janet Maslin of The New York Times said the film "has its dopey charms", and that it is suitable for people who found Wayne's World too demanding.[9]

The Los Angeles Times called it "an unusually companionable jape; in this world it makes perfect sense that the Coneheads' friends and neighbors never really register that there's anything terribly different about them. They're all-American eccentrics—even if they happen to come from the planet Remulak".[10]

The film received some critical re-evaluation during the 2010s, with multiple writers noting its satirical take on an immigrant family experience and immigration enforcement (meant as an exaggeration of Reagan-era politics) became eerily politically relevant following the September 11 attacks.[11][12]

Soundtrack

[edit]
Coneheads: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
Various Artists
ReleasedJuly 20, 1993 (1993-07-20)
Recorded1992–1993
GenreSoundtrack
Length43:27
LabelWarner Bros. Records
ProducerVarious Artists
Singles from Coneheads: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack
  1. "Soul to Squeeze"
    Released: August 19, 1993
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic link
Music Week[13]

The soundtrack for Coneheads was released on July 20, 1993, by Warner Bros. Records. It features the songs "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell, "It's a Free World, Baby" by R.E.M. and "Soul to Squeeze" by the band Red Hot Chili Peppers which would go on to reach 22 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[14] The album itself would peak at 162 on the US Billboard 200 chart.[15]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitlePerformed byLength
1."Magic Carpet Ride" (originally performed by Steppenwolf)Michael Monroe and Slash3:40
2."Tainted Love"Soft Cell2:42
3."No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" (originally performed by Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer)Andy Bell and k.d. lang3:51
4."Kodachrome"Paul Simon3:30
5."Can't Take My Eyes Off You" (originally performed by Frankie Valli)Morten Harket3:43
6."It's a Free World, Baby"R.E.M.5:12
7."Soul to Squeeze"Red Hot Chili Peppers4:52
8."Fight the Power" (originally performed by Public Enemy)Barenaked Ladies4:05
9."Little Renee"Digable Planets3:22
10."Chale Jao"Babble4:10
11."Conehead Love featuring Beldar and Prymaat"Nan Schaefer, Bruce Gowdy, and Peter Aykroyd4:05
Total length:43:27

None of David Newman's score was included on the above album, but it was issued on a 2015 Intrada album paired with his scores for Talent for the Game and Itsy Bitsy Spider.[16]

References

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  1. ^ "CONEHEADS (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on June 15, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Coneheads at Box Office Mojo
  3. ^ Davis, Tom (2010). Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss: The Early Days of SNL from Someone Who Was There. Grove Atlantic. p. 222. ISBN 9781555849160.
  4. ^ Fox, David J. (July 27, 1993). "Weekend Box Office : 'Poetic' Finds Its Place in Line". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved June 3, 2012.
  5. ^ "Coneheads (1993)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  6. ^ "Coneheads". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  7. ^ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
  8. ^ Ebert, Roger (July 23, 1993). "Coneheads". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
  9. ^ Maslin, Janet (July 23, 1993). "Review/Film; They're From Another Planet (Another Medium, Actually)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved June 3, 2012.
  10. ^ Rainer, Peter (July 23, 1993). "Movie Reviews : 'Coneheads': 1-Note Joke With Legs". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  11. ^ Bahr, Robin (November 28, 2017). "Does 'Coneheads' Actually Suck?". Vice. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  12. ^ Etheridge, Steve (June 24, 2011). "The Coneheads Prophesy: How a Kind of Crappy Movie Predicted the Future of America and Ripened Into Relevancy". Vulture. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  13. ^ Jones, Alan (August 28, 1993). "Market Preview: Mainstream - Albums" (PDF). Music Week. p. 19. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
  14. ^ "Red Hot Chili Peppers - Chart history - Billboard". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 24, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  15. ^ "Original Soundtrack Coneheads". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  16. ^ "CONEHEADS / TALENT FOR THE GAME / THE ITSY BITSY SPIDER". store.intrada.com. Archived from the original on December 24, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
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