Amanda & the Alien (1995)

Good concept, poorly executed.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

I guess there are some out there that remember Nicole Eggert from her little girl days on such TV shows as T.J. Hooker, Charles in Charge, and Who's the Boss? You perverts, you! Maybe you remember her from Baywatch when she grew up and got breast implants. No matter, you will certainly forget her in this supposed comedy about man-eating aliens.There are so many things that do not make sense and are never explained. How did she recognize the alien? Why was the alien hot for paprika and cinnamon? Why didn't the alien eat her? You get the picture.Before the alien eats her boyfriend and assumes his identity, you get to see her in the body of Alex Meneses. This Mexican/Ukranian beauty is the only reason to watch this trash. Stay for the shower scene and the boyfriend, and go on about your business.

Nicole Eggert was listed as the star of this, despite Micheal Dorn & Stacey Keach being much bigger stars than her.Basically this is a bit of a spin on the "Alien lands on Earth" film. Eggert plays the girl who feels sorry for an Alien being chased by the military and takes in the runaway creature in her very sexy disguise. A bit of nudity and partial nudity, a pointless sex scene all feature along the way.The film stumbles through a few obvious set-pieces and running jokes about being shown photographs. I quite liked the Star Trek jokes when Micheal Dorn had been taken over and he got a really cool death scene.It was fairly obvious that Stacey Keach was going to be taken over and the film had quite a weak ending, it would have been nice to show exactly what kind of talent the Alien passed to Eggert.

"Starman" meets "Mork and Mindy" with a side of "The Hidden" and a hint of "Femalien".I saw this film on a whim, simply because I saw a short list of who was in it and was puzzled at the combination of actors. Not the greatest movie in the world, but certainly not the worst. This film has a very fine cast, mostly in its supporting ranks, but an oddly amateurish feel, as if it were made on a whim over the course of about ten days. The camerawork and editing are sometimes quite poor, but at other times perfectly competent, and the same goes for the dialogue, script, and direction.However, the film is redeemed by its sense of humor. About a third of the attempts at humor fall down badly, but about another third come across very well. I didn't laugh much while watching it but I did keep smiling and nodding my head. Given the story and situations presented, there are jokes that beg to be made, and the characters often make them. I had to wonder how many of them were improvised, but it really doesn't matter.Nicole Eggert isn't at her best here, but she does fine and looks cute. It's a damned shame what Hollywood has done to her over the years, though. She's still very attractive, but if they'd just let her eyebrows grow back and stop putting so much makeup on her, she'd be deeply adorable again. The plucked-and-painted look just makes her tend to look generic. Nicole, you're a lovely girl; stop letting them second-guess your face.Michael Dorn is priceless as a quirky federal agent, and Stacy Keach, David Millbern, and the often-overlooked John Diehl are good in supporting roles. The actors who take principle turns playing the wooden alien are, well, a little wooden, but it's not clear how much of this is poor acting and how much is just an attempt to stay in character.The most startlingly good thing about this movie, though, is its standout soundtrack. The soundtrack -- sadly not detailed at IMDB as of this writing -- is excellent all around, but, even more impressively, it features three impressive songs by Over the Rhine, a distinctive and sadly underknown group. Whenever the background music gave way to a song, I was impressed by the choice someone had made.I doubt the soundtrack is available anywhere, which is a real shame. Interestingly, "Amanda and the Alien" is based on a Robert Silverberg short story. You wouldn't guess it from the film itself, but there it is.Overall, this is a very watchable movie. You might not think so at first, but if you make it through the somewhat slow first fifteen minutes or so, there's a good chance you'll be hooked and amused.

Once again, Nicole and her unique blend of SATIRE, DRAMA and SEX is put to GREAT use in a perfect vehicle, Amanda & the Aliens!!! (can you spell Marlena D. or Garbo???). Watch it again, from the viewpoint of *satirical comedy*, and then judge the film. It's just Great!!! ONLY Nic could pull it of, and she DOES!BTW, for those who enjoy this RARE and unique genre, and want to experience another shining example of it, watch "THE DEMOLITIONIST". GREAT!!! (actually, all her films are wonderful small pieces.)BTW - BTW - if you watched CHARLES in CHARGE, it's amazing to see the beginnings of Nicole's abilities and talents. The seeds of her sardonic sense of humor are clear.PS - Keep it up Nicole, you are the best all-round actress we have!