Some old TV shows like Star Trek or The Brady Bunch are naturals for movies. My Favorite Martian isn't one of them. Christopher Lloyd mugs relentlessly as an egotistical alien who crash-lands on earth and makes life miserable for a beleaguered television news producer (Jeff Daniels from Pleasantville). Director Donald Petrie (Grumpy Old Men) seems less interested in telling a story than with cramming as many hyperactive and extraneous visual effects as possible into a single frame. As a result, the threadbare plot and shallow characters become less interesting as the action on the screen becomes more confused and irritating. Adding to the agony is the appallingly frequent use of attempted toilet humor. For a movie allegedly made for kids, this film is rather disgusting. Original martian Ray Walston tries to make the most of his token cameo, but neither he nor the rest of the cast can do much with uninspired material. Scribes Sherri Stoner and Deanna Oliver did far wittier work on Animaniacs. Both they and My Favorite Martian belong on the small screen. (PG) Rating: 2

 Jeff Daniels and Christopher Lloyd in My Favorite Martian.

© 1999 Walt Disney Pictures, used by permission.