My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988)

★ 5.7 1h 48m 567 votes IMDb
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Trying to rescue her home planet from destruction, a gorgeous extraterrestrial named Celeste arrives on Earth and begins her scientific research. She woos quirky scientist Dr. Steve Mills, a widower with a young daughter. Before long, Celeste finds herself in love with Steve and her new life on Earth, where she experiences true intimacy for the first time. But when she loses sight of her mission, she begins to question where she belongs.

My Stepmother Is an Alien

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Cast

Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd as Steven Mills Age 73 · Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Daniel Edward Aykroyd, born in Ottawa, initially pursued studies in psychology, criminal sociology, and political science at Carleton University, where his comedy journey took off. He co-wrote sketche...
Kim Basinger
Kim Basinger as Celeste Martin Age 72 · Athens, Georgia, USA Kimila Ann Basinger (born December 8, 1953) is an American actress and former fashion model. She has garnered acclaim for her work in film and television, for which she has received various accolades...
Jon Lovitz
Jon Lovitz as Ron Mills Age 68 · Tarzana, California, USA Jonathan "Jon" Lovitz is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He is best known as a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1990..
Alyson Hannigan
Alyson Hannigan as Jessie Mills Age 52 · Washington, District of Columbia, USA Alyson Lee Hannigan (born March 24, 1974) is an American actress and television presenter. She is best known for her roles as Willow Rosenberg in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2...
Joseph Maher
Joseph Maher as Lucas Budlong Died 1998 · Westport, County Mayo, Ireland From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Joseph Maher (December 29, 1933 – July 17, 1998) was an Irish character actor who appeared in 43 films and was nominated for three Tony Awards and a Drama Desk...
Seth Green
Seth Green as Fred Glass Age 52 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Seth Benjamin Green (né Gesshel-Green; born February 8, 1974) is an American actor. His film debut came with a role in the comedy-drama film The Hotel New Hampshire (1984), and he went on to have supp...

Audience Reviews

Wuchak 6/10 Sep 25, 2020
_**Weird 80’s comedy in the silly mold of “Earth Girls are Easy” and “Coneheads”**_

A low-paid widowed scientist (Dan Aykroyd) makes contact with aliens and they send an agent (Kim Basinger) to meet him. She has a one-eyed serpentine counselor in her purse and ends up marrying the physicist, even though the counselor’s intention is to destroy the planet (!). Alyson Hannigan plays the winsome daughter while Jon Lovitz is on hand as the researcher’s annoying brother.

“My Stepmother Is an Alien” (1988) is cut from the same cloth as the contemporaneous “Earth Girls are Easy.” Although it’s not as good and has a strange off-kilter vibe, it’s vastly superior to future duds "2001: A Space Travesty" and "What Planet Are You From?" (both from 2000). While I’m not a fan of Basinger (I don’t NOT like her either), she does comedy surprisingly well, better than you would expect.

This was the feature film debut of future “stars” Alyson Hannigan and Juliette Lewis, as well as one of Seth Green’s early movies. The roles of the latter two are almost unnoticeable. Meanwhile, whoever wrote the script loves Jimmy Durante.

There’s a surprising scene involving porn that, while it doesn’t get outrageously out of hand (and I could care less about its inclusion), it seems out of place for a warm-hearted family flick.

The film is considerably overlong at 1 hour, 47 minutes. It was shot at Studio City and points nearby in the Los Angeles area.

GRADE: B-/C+

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