Alien Nation

The aliens ("slags" in the argot of the picture) came to earth some time ago, and now after strenuous efforts by the ACLU, are allowed to live among humans like regular citizens. But they are definitely treated like an unwanted minority, and they get their kicks by drinking sour milk, and some of them have turned to crime. In this picture, Mandy Patimkin is the first slag to be promoted to detective, and he teams up with a tough guy human cop (James Caan) to find a murderer and other assorted bad guys. The picture isn't bad--it's certainly watchable--and in fact does have a certain style; it is handled competently. But when you get past the artful alienness of it all, it's really just another film about drug dealers and cops. Very much like “Star Trek” meets “Miami Vice.” So the driving narrative just isn't that compelling. We've seen this before. But that's not the reason to see the picture; the reason to see the picture is the performances of Caan and Patimkin. They take a rather fanciful situation and make it work. They make these characters live and breathe so that we believe them. They also are good at depicting the strain they feel working together--at least at the beginning--before they become pals. Actually, maybe it's more like “Star Trek” meets “48 Hrs.” In fact, the picture actually tacks itself onto another drama genre, the “48 Hrs./Red Heat/The Defiant Ones” genre, in which two guys from opposite sides of the track are forced to work together for a common goal, and thereby learn to respect and even like one another.

Let's hear it for tolerance... at least in the pursuit of justice. We really are retreading old stories here, but it is done in a fairly disarming way. The picture has a pretty good visual style (reminiscent of “Blade Runner”) and there is a fair amount of humor as well, most (naturally) coming from the clash of cultures, but it is presented with skill and good timing, probably largely due to the efforts of the two stars, so the gags don't fall flat. Two disappointments: first is the "one thing about them that we don't know" which turns out to be a hell of a lot less spectacular than the ominous line would suggest. Second is the transformation the aliens undergo when they OD on the drug; it is positively underwhelming. We expect something along the lines of the mama-creature in “Aliens,” but instead we just get an angry slag. Oh well. Nevertheless... a competent and reasonably entertaining job that manages to overcome the limitations of its material with some good acting by two pros.