My Favorite Martian

1999

My Favorite Martian (1999)

TOMATOMETER

12%
20%

Critic Consensus: Loud, effects-ridden comedy with no real humor.

AUDIENCE SCORE

30%

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Movie Info

My Favorite Martian stars Jeff Daniels as Tim O'Hara, once a newspaper man and now a struggling television producer in Santa Barbara. Tim has a crush on vapid news reporter Brace Channing (Elizabeth Hurley) while overlooking his feelings for Lizzie (Daryl Hannah), a technician working at the station. Driving home one night, Tim wanders upon the crash landing of a spaceship from Mars. The Martian inside (Christopher Lloyd) has come to Earth searching for a fellow Martian who had been lost here 35 years ago. After the crash, he hides on the beach and shrinks his spaceship to the size of a toy to avoid detection; Tim finds the ship anyway, and takes it home. With little choice, the Martian, aided by his sentient and very neurotic spacesuit, follows Tim home and reveals himself. Tim sees the alien as his ticket to the big time, but the Martian, now masquerading as Tim's Uncle Martin (thanks to some Martian gum that transforms his appearance to that of a human) thwarts Tim at every turn. Just as he gets the video he needs for his story, O'Hara develops a friendship with his planetary neighbor and new "Uncle." The two suddenly find they are racing against the the clock -- a government team, led by a wacky scientist (Wallace Shawn), hunts Martin down, and the spaceship (a rental) is on a timed sequence to self-destruct if it cannot be repaired in time. Along the way, Tim loses his infatuation with Brace and finds his true feelings for the loyal Lizzie. Martin might also find his lost friend on Earth, just as he has found new ones.

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Cast

Christopher Lloyd
as Uncle Martin
Jeff Daniels
as Tim O'Hara
Elizabeth Hurley
as Brace Channing
Wallace Shawn
as Dr. Edward Coleye
Daryl Hannah
as Lizzie
Christine Ebersole
as Mrs. Lorelei Brown
Michael Lerner
as Mr. Channing
Ray Walston
as Armitan
Steve Bond
as Head of SETI
Shelley Malil
as Felix
David St. James
as Prescott
Frank Welker
as Zoot
Jean-Luc Martin
as Guard at Gate
Wayne Knight
as Zoot (Martin's talking space suit)
Jeremy Hotz
as Billy
T.K. Carter
as Lenny
Dawn Maxey
as Salesgirl
Steven Anthony Lawrence
as Nurplex Kid
Michael Chieffo
as Earl Metz
Troy Evans
as Captain Dalton
Arthur Senzy
as Cmdr. Murdoch
Charles Chun
as Radar Controller
Michael Dempsey
as Van Gundy
Dee Anne Helsel
as Dressing Room Woman
Joe Garrett
as Hardware Store Employee
Lorin McRaley
as Cool Dude
Ken Thorley
as KTSC Floor Manager
Tom Hallick
as Howard Greenly
Barry Pearl
as News Director
Buck Kartalian
as Muscle Man
Sylvester 'Bear' Terkay
as Huge Guard
Michael Bailey Smith
as Big Guard
Christian Keiber
as Guard at Clearing
Richard Kleber
as Mr. Butz
Debra Christofferson
as Mrs. Butz
Howard H. Ross
as Newspaper Man
Allan Kolman
as Scientist
Pamela Gordon
as Scientist
Robert Rigamonti
as Scientist
Beau Billingslea
as Scientist
Robert Michael Adler
as Scientist
Frank Cavestani
as Tanning Contest Emcee
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Critic Reviews for My Favorite Martian

All Critics (42) | Top Critics (10)

Dire.

Jun 24, 2006 | Full Review…
Time Out
Top Critic

Walston displays a crisp wit and blithe sense of whimsy otherwise lacking in this loser.

Feb 14, 2001 | Rating: 1.5/5 | Full Review…
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic

What we have here is a highly agreeable cast goofing around within the familiar parameters of the alien-lost-on-Earth story, to absolutely no purpose except killing time.

Jan 1, 2000
Salon.com
Top Critic

This is entertainment of the lightest, most inconsequential sort.

Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…
ReelViews
Top Critic

Everything else in the film, which was directed by Donald Petrie, is either cute or irritating.

Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic

Travel from Mars to Earth is an amazing feat, but not much more remarkable than reviving a sitcom that had been dead for a third of a century.

Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
New York Times
Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (42)

Audience Reviews for My Favorite Martian

Here is an effort wherein you feel sympathy for the actors wading through the dreck but especially for Ray Walston, blessed (you would hope) to be in the movie of the popular television series he helped establish ... and this is what they give him. Where did I put the bottle of prescription painkillers and the bottle of tequila? Have you heard of this movie? There's a reason you haven't.

Kevin M. Williams
Kevin M. Williams

Super Reviewer

Pretty funny.

Rachel F
Rachel F

Super Reviewer

Good if you just want to watch a movie and laugh - no thinking required

Red Lats
Red Lats

Super Reviewer

Thats right I saw it and you know what it sucked! Big suprise.

James Alvarez
James Alvarez

Super Reviewer

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