Strange Planet (1999)

This romantic comedy takes place over the course of one year - opening on New Year's Eve of one year and closing exactly one year later. The film focuses on three women living together in a... See full summary »

Director:

Emma-Kate Croghan

Writers:

Stavros Kazantzidis (story), Stavros Kazantzidis (screenplay),

Stars:

Claudia Karvan, Naomi Watts, Alice Garner

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Claudia Karvan	...	Judy
Naomi Watts	...	Alice
Alice Garner	...	Sally
Tom Long	...	Ewan
Aaron Jeffery	...	Joel
Felix Williamson	...	Neil
Hugo Weaving	...	Steven
Rebecca Frith	...	Amanda
Marshall Napier	...	Robert
Loene Carmen	...	Amy
Heidi McDonald	...	Bridget
Harry Cripps	...	Paul
Rebel Penfold-Russell	...	Producer
Hugh Baldwin	...	Bob
Helen Thomson	...	Lulu

Storyline

This romantic comedy takes place over the course of one year - opening on New Year's Eve of one year and closing exactly one year later. The film focuses on three women living together in a house in Sydney and three male best friends. The men and women at the film's start have not yet met, but it is obvious that all will get together by film's end. The three women are all ending nowhere relationships with married men, older men, or just life's losers. One of the men is just a shy law graduate, one is a sexual conqueror who has just learned one of his conquests is pregnant, and the last is facing a breakup of his marriage. Through various events, each of the two trios end up together at the turn of the year.

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Plot Keywords:

marriage | new year's eve | friend | treadmill | umbrella | 

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Taglines:

right place. right time. wrong guy.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 1999 (Australia)

Filming Locations:

Kirribilli, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC), New South Wales Film & Television Office, Premium Movie Partnership

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Ewan: I'd tell my friend it's a risky game falling in love with a married man, and that if you play tennis with the devil, you can't complain if he cheats.

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Connections

Features Twilight Zone (1959)

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Soundtracks

"Do You Wanna Funk"
Written by Patrick Cowley, Sylvester James
Performed by Sylvester James

User Reviews

It tries so, so hard for you to like it.

Strange Planet is set in Sydney and is the story of six twenty-something young folk -- three girls, three boys. If you're thinking "Oh, it's an Aussie version of Friends", you'd be right, and wrong.

What Strange Planet has over the sit-com is characters who you can sort of like, and not want to punch. Unfortunately, as much as you want to like them, they're let down by some appalling writing, especially for the male characters. Tom Long does well with what little he has, while Jeffries and Williamson make do. Of the girls, Claudia Karvan acts Watts and Garner off the screen. Why Karvan isn't a huge star is one of life's great mysteries.

While Strange Planet is hard to dislike, it leaves you with a sickly feeling, not unlike after eating an entire packet of jelly babies. And the ending -- holy mother of... Has there ever been a more tooth-rotting conclusion to a film that has tried so hard to make you like it? No. This is one of those 'close but not really' efforts -- all it needed was a better, punchier, cleverer script with just a touch of insight into the psyche of men. is it worth seeing? Maybe, but for what it's worth, it's still better than Friends.