Here on Earth (2000)

A rich college kid is taught a lesson after a joy ride ends up destroying a country restaurant.

Director:

Mark Piznarski

Writer:

Michael Seitzman

Stars:

Chris Klein, Leelee Sobieski, Josh Hartnett

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris Klein	...	Kelley
Leelee Sobieski	...	Samantha
Josh Hartnett	...	Jasper
Michael Rooker	...	Malcolm Arnold
Annie Corley	...	Betsy Arnold
Bruce Greenwood	...	Earl Cavanaugh
Annette O'Toole	...	Jo Cavanaugh
Elaine Hendrix	...	Jennifer Cavanaugh
Stuart Wilson	...	John Morse
Ronni Saxon	...	Robin Arnold
Maureen O'Malley	...	Patty
Tac Fitzgerald	...	Pete
Jessica Stier	...	Vanessa
Erik Eidem	...	Charlie (as Erik Kristofer)
Zach Fehst	...	Steve

Storyline

The lives of three young people - a rich student, a girl from the "wrong side of the tracks" and her boyfriend - unexpectedly intersect during one fateful summer in the romantic drama "Here on Earth." Kelley Morse (Chris Klein), who is cocky and brash, normally would never have crossed paths with the residents of a small town near his posh private school. But when he takes his shiny new Mercedes out for a drive, he locks horns with some of the locals, including Jasper (Josh Hartnett). As Jasper's willful girlfriend Samantha (Leelee Sobieski) looks on, Kelley and Jasper engage in a dangerous car race that turns disastrous, leaving a popular diner owned by Samantha's mother in ruins. Kelley and Jasper are sentenced to a creatively ironic but fitting punishment: They must help rebuild the diner. Not only does this ruin Kelley's summer plans, he also must board at the home of his rival, Jasper. Kelley begins to fulfill his "sentence," but refuses to have anything to do with Jasper and his...

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Plot Keywords:

mini skirt | blonde | brunette | small town | teenage girl | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sensuality and thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

Fox

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 March 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Aquí en la Tierra

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,510,705, 26 March 2000, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$10,494,147, 21 May 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox 2000 Pictures, Friendly Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Melissa Joan Hart was considered for the role of Samantha.

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Goofs

When Kelley is getting out of the shower, you can see his shorts under the top of the towel

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Quotes

Jasper: No. Nobody knows you like I do. Alright? Nobody gets you like I do. We belong together. We... I love you. I love you, Sam.

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Connections

Referenced in Xchange (2001)

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Soundtracks

Pick a Part That's New
Written by Kelly Jones, Richard Jones, Stuart Cable
Performed by Stereophonics
Courtesy of V2 Records, Inc.

User Reviews

I wanted to claw my own eyes out within half an hour...

Films like this are one of the many things that give Hollywood its bad reputation among independent creative artists. Being at the advanced age of twenty-four and already having had two girlfriends (okay, one girlfriend and one exceptionally good female friend) die on me, I turned the DVD off feeling insulted. Mr. Cranky's review of the film says it all, but I thought I would offer some of my own personal commentary just to embellish the point.

Ever heard the saying "convert ****holes who, having accepted Jesus into their hearts, remain ****holes"? Well, this film is a living example of it. I had as much sympathy for the characters in this film as I would have for a baked potato, and that did not change one iota by the end. The dead mother plot device might have done it for me - quite frankly, I would be very indifferent if my mother died, especially if she had done so when I was about ten years younger. Plot points follow this paragraph, by the way, but you might save yourself a lot of boredom if you just read them.

The manner in which we are supposed to feel sympathy for Leelee Cantactworthadamn's character is simple. The writers and director decide to give her cancer. Apparently, she has broken her knee playing sports before, and the doctors tell her crying family that the possibility of a tumour growing in her leg as a result was "always a possibility". What the f***? Having had a cancer dug out of my face myself, resulting in similar disfigurement to what Cybill Shepherd is reputedly going through at the moment, I find this plot device even more insulting now than I did when I saw the film. I will not feel sympathy for a cardboard cut-out if she dies of cancer, and I will want to kill her myself if she is afflicted with cancer via such a lousy, insulting, and just plain inconsistent with the facts setup as this. Hell, her family must belong to the HMO from Hades if cancer as the result of a knee injury was "always a possibility", and yet it spreads throughout her body so far it cannot be rectified before anyone even notices!

Of course, another source of eternal amusement is the contribution of music by Tori Amos, a woman who still apparently wishes she was more unusual than the chew-toys in breakfast cereals. I'd love to see the look on her face after being played some of the record collection I've put together after years of living in circumstances that would make the writers of this film shudder in terror. Which brings me to another point - when the hell is Hollywood going to stop insulting us with these pseudo-alternative films and present us with something truly exceptional again? One could could the current Lord Of The Rings trilogy, but that is only exceptional because of good source material and a quirky director. Hell On Earth, by comparison, seems geared to prove that Hollywood is only geared towards a very narrow, rigid demographic.

In case I haven't impressed upon you how bad this trash is, let me close by just saying that this film's entire plot was done a billion times better in about twenty minutes of Groundhog Day.