Coneheads, The

MPAA Rating: PG

Entertainment: +3

Content: -1/2

Those lovable aliens with the pointy heads are back. One of "Saturday Night Live's" favorite skits about 15 years ago was the Coneheads, that out-of-place family that seemed so normal. . . and so weird. The movie explains how they first came to earth and some of their subsequent adventures. Beldar (Dan Akroyd) and his wife Prymaat (Jane Curtain) are stranded on earth after their spaceship crashes. Beldar and Prymaat must adapt to Earth's primitive society in order to survive. Beldar's first inclinations are to eat rolls of toilet paper and drink glass cleaner. Soon Beldar gets a job as a repairman and taxi driver to support his wife and their new cone, Connie, who eventually grows up on Earth. Their troubles begin when Immigration Service tracks the Coneheads as illegal "aliens." THE CONEHEADS is full of funny slapstick and should be one of the biggest comedy hits of the summer.

The refreshing thing about THE CONEHEADS is its subdued amount of offensive material. Compared with other "Saturday Night Live" offerings, THE CONEHEADS comes out surprisingly well. There are a few sexual references, which mostly concern the unknown anatomy and habits of Beldar. Connie refuses to kiss her earth boyfriend early in the movie but later holds hands as energy passes between them. Also, there is a bad sight gag when Beldar mistakes a condom for bubble gum three times in the movie. There is brief rear male nudity highlighting Beldar's alien anatomy, and one scene of implied intercourse between Beldar and his wife after she reads an article in "Cosmopolitan"; The government agent is portrayed as crass and self-seeking, and the police are called "human authority figures" by the Coneheads. There is some off-screen violence as Beldar must battle a huge monster that devours aliens. The Coneheads are shown as a loving, hard-working family that become well-respected in their neighborhood. The sexual references and a few obscenities, which could have easily been left out, force us to give THE CONEHEADS a slightly objectionable rating.

Preview Reviewer: Greg Wilson
Distributor:
Paramount Communications Inc., 5 Columbia Circle, NY, NY 10023

Summary
The following categories contain objective listings of film content which contribute to the subjective numeric Content ratings posted to the left and on the Home page.

Crude Language: Few (3) times - Mild 2; Moderate 1

Obscene Language: Few (4) times(s-word once, others 3)

Profanity: None

Violence: Few times - moderate (monster comically eats people off screen, an arm, head shown flung away)

Sex: Implied between aliens once

Nudity: One shower room scene, brief male rear nudity

Sexual Dialogue/Gesture: Few times - references to alien anatomy, intercourse; alien thinks condom is bubble gum

Drugs: Once - drinking a huge cocktail

Other: Authorities portrayed as crass and self-seeking

Running Time:
Intended Audience: Older teens


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