It Came from the Sky (1999)

Let me put it this way, whenever my family wants a film to compare a movie to, we pick It Came From the Sky. If we watch a poor movie, we'll say, at least it wasn't as bad as the one with the airplane.

It really is a testament to the saying that Hollywood "chews you up and spits you out" when you consider the amount of well known people in this film- Chris Lloyd, John Ritter, Yasmine Bleeth (of Baywatch fame) among others. Mr. Lloyd is a wonderful actor, he has done great work in such films as One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest- this film is not in the same ballpark.

The plot is hard to describe, or hard to understand, it starts with a feuding family (at least I think it does, it's been a while since I've seen it), and a mentally retarded boy. One day the boy is playing with a toy airplane and (oddly enough) a plane crashes into their house. (After that scene, the airplane isn't mentioned again) Did the boy perhaps cause the crash? The movie doesn't say, because that would make for a more interesting film. Rather, the film is about how the resisdents of the house become friends with the people in the plane (Llody and Bleeth). I guess there's an interesting idea behind it all, the people bring several things to light about the family (the boy is becoming sexually aware- in a rather gross scene, the father (Ritter) has been rebelling against his wife by eating meat in private and so on). A film could be made out of that idea, but it would be more interesting if they just appeared at their door, rather than crashing into their house.

Maybe the two people are angels, maybe the boy willed them, maybe they're the reason he's obsessed with aliens, airplanes, things that come from the sky. The film doesn't answer these questions, which is admirable, some films are better left unsolved, so the audience can discuss them. This one doesn't fall into that group. It would be better if it wasn't so outragous (we don't need to see the imprint of an erection to know that its there for example), and if it had a better script. The actors are good, but not in this movie. I don't reccomend seeing this film, unless you like the people in the cast, or like this kind of film. I didn't like it, but other posters have. I guess I was too busy wondering about the fact that if the people are angels, they're not very good ones. Sure they might've helped the family, but they left them with a big hole in their roof.