An overseas commentator once said he would rather sit through a Lars Von Trier festival than watch an Australian comedy. Up until the recent "Any Questions for Ben?", and with the exception of "The Castle" and "Babe", I'd say he had a point. In fact, "Strange Planet" could be that Australian comedy he was talking about.Sadly, "Australian comedy" has been problematic (i.e. not funny) for decades. Although "Strange Planet" has pretensions to be a comment on the social mores of young, upper middle class Australians as opposed to a straight-out comedy, the filmmakers surely must have intended it to be funnier than it is.Set in Sydney, the movie is about three women who have been friends at university – Judy, Alice and Sally played by Claudia Karvin, Naomi Watts and Alice Garner – and three men who are starting their careers in the legal profession, Ewan, Joel and Neil played by Tom Long, Aaron Jeffery and Felix Williamson. The two groups do not know each other at the beginning of the film but their lives become enmeshed as the story unfolds. The story takes place over one year. So much is packed into this film that it is surprising that it seems to drag so much. Alarm bells sound early. As Judy and her friends leave a supermarket, Judy's boss, who is obsessed with her, asks her to marry him – on his knees no less. The scene is overplayed for comic potential but none is forthcoming; the whole sequence is contrived and miss-timed."Strange Planet" like many Australian films, comedies or otherwise, is too talky. When the script runs out of things for the characters to say, they read from magazines, books and astrology guides – anything to keep up the flow of verbiage. Much of the character motivation is revealed in sessions with psychoanalysts. Both Neil and Alice are seeing therapists – yet another way to keep the cast talking.The characters, men and women alike, constantly give each other advice. The script is full of pet theories espoused by one or other of the principals. Neil's character in particular has many theories, mostly about women. One of his theories is that one can tell what a woman is like from her handbag – this pertains somewhat to physical attributes and gives an idea of the level of wit in the movie.Everything is so superficial in this film that broken relationships, date rape, suicide attempts, sex scenes and self-discovery, all run together without generating much emotion. Although the underlying problem with "Strange Planet" is that it is a collection of poorly conceived sequences that don't hang together, it is the overall sense of self satisfaction that finally sinks the film for me. "Strange Planet", strange movie.

I thought it was a pretty good movie. The acting was good and the story was well told. It's one of those *feel good movies* that you know how it's going to turn out but you want to watch and see how it all ends anyway.

Fans of Australian film cannot possibly ignore Emma-Kate Croghan's triumphant second feature. I have not personally seen the apparently superior "Love and Other Catastrophes", but must say that it would have to be an absolute masterpiece to beat "Strange Planet". Effortlessly sophisticated humour from writer/producer Stavros Kazantzidis (also of "Love and Other Catastrophes"), classy direction from Croghan and magnificent performances from all involved make this film one to be remembered for a long time. It undoubtedly rates alongside the best Australian comedies of the last decade, such as "Two Hands" and "Kiss or Kill". Claudia Karvan and Naomi Watts (recently discovered for her magnificent performance in David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive") give spectacular performances, as does the ever-reliable Hugo Weaving. The disarming charm and style of "Strange Planet" leaves many overseas romantic comedies seem like insignificant gurgles in the background. No-one who enjoys the sophistication and class of Australian cinema can avoid this wonder-work. Four bright, sparkling stars for "Strange Planet".

Like a few other Australian entries from 1999, 'Strange Planet' is gorgeously filmed but appallingly scripted and acted. The story sees two sets of three friends (three girls and three guys) who stumble to and from bad relationships. In a nutshell, that's basically the plot. Spanning a year, the film certainly covers a lot of time. And neatly too. Each new month is visually introduced by some stunning time-lapse sequences of Syndey. However, once plot and character development come into swing, then the movie just falls flat on its face. Dialogue feels too sparse and wanna-be offbeat, not to mention being so predictable and underdeveloped that it feels more like a synopsis than dialogue. The 'witty' nihilist-turned-romantic banter about relationships is anything but. The plot likewise feels all too familiar, and the ending comes paradoxically unsurprising and undeveloped, so undeveloped that the last shot (an overhead of the six eating breakfast) feels like an insulting attempt at gratifying the audience. Yet another sad triumph of of style over substance. Try 'The Big Night Out' for similar results.2/5