Alien Autopsy (2006)

Very well executed

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

5.8? Seriously? This deserves a 6.8 at the very least. In the UK Ant and Dec are national treasures. I am a fan of their show "saturday night takeaway" and think they are brilliant performers. I recently caught this movie on TV and the absurdly low score on IMDb made me want to write my own honest review. The film is incredibly fun and as always the stars have perfect chemistry and carry the film virtually by themselves. This isn't to say the supporting cast isn't also very good however.The plot, based on an absurd true story, follows Ray Santilli (Declan Donnelly) who is a dodgy dealer of Elvis memorabilia and his good friend Gary Shoefield (Ant McPartlin) as they travel to America in order to get some rare footage to sell,but the particular seller has some more footage that is even more valuable. Real-life alien autopsy footage. When the tape gets wiped the men recruit a crew to reenact a fake autopsy (with a scarily realistic alien) and become worldwide celebrities in the process.Whilst this film is marketed as Ant and Dec the movie, i felt Ant was sidelined to make room for more Dec, however this isn't such a bad thing as he is the man with the ideas and is the one you get to know most. Also, this is very different from anything the pair have previously done. It also isn't a laugh a minute comedy romp because this simply wouldn't work. A lot of the comedy is subtle (much like the highlighted "lie" in the title" and it works really well and some scenes had me laughing out loud. There are obviously minor flaws but the film makes up for this with the likability of its leads and entertaining plot. Towards the end after their tape goes out i felt a few scenes dragged a bit for example when the two board a plane Dec is recognised as a celebrity as the film was found by him etc. And ant is sent to lower class. This worked once but it was shown again once or twice which was a bit unnecessary. But the conclusion really satisfied me and fit with the theme of the overall theme perfectly.In the end i had fun with Alien Autopsy and it is a film i would watch again if it were on TV and i had nothing to do. Ant and Dec have proved they still have it in them to act and i wouldn't mind seeing them pair up for another film. A solid 7/10 and a fun experience. But for those squeamish the autopsy scenes themselves look very realistic (they are obviously not) and i was extremely surprised at how much detail was put into the "alien"One last thing, those who think the last scene uses real life footage, i'd love to agree but i highly doubt it is.

I slid this DVD into the player without having done much research about the film, expecting a quality British comedy in the vein of "Hot Fuzz" or "Shawn of the Dead". Boy, was I ever wrong! Would I have done some research, I would have noticed that the protagonists stem from proletarian TV-shows like "Pop Idol", "xxx got Talent" and "I'm a celebrity, etc" - if only I had done this little research, the plastic-disc would not have come anywhere close to my player. The two "stars" (I cannot recall their names) aren't really actors or comedians in the classical sense, since they can neither act, nor are they remotely funny. I'd rather call them symptoms; symptoms for the decline in quality and standard in contemporary entertainment, and if you happen to be British, reading this right now – don't worry, we have the same symptoms plaguing TV, cinema and entertainment generally in Germany.The film actually features two real actors: Bill Pullman and Harry Dean Stanton, which only confirms that acting and prostitution have more in common than most actors would like to admit – and that 'dignity' isn't very high on the list of either trade. Then again, even actors need to eat and let's not forget Joan Crawford: academy award winner today, acting in "Trog" (1970) tomorrow.To be completely honest, I feel a little guilty writing this review in the first place, considering that I really cannot remember much about the film itself. This rarely happens to me, since I have a rather good memory for films. Just another indication of how forgettable this film is.But perhaps I'm too old-fashioned and simply not among the target-audience. Perhaps you, dear reader, have enjoyed contemporary slapstick comedies like "Epic Movie" or "Meet the Spartans"; in that case I might well recommend you "Alien Autopsy" (if your attention-span allows you to remember this reviews headline by the time you've reached the end).Still, 1 point out of 10 from me (and that only because there is no zero rating on IMDb).

I was impressed by the ease of Ant and Dec when they were able to step in to the roles. Both added extra comments in scenes of conversation that you don't see (or hear) in major films today which make it seem like realistic conversations.Before watching this film I saw a documentary with Eamonn Holmes about the story of the real hoax and you were able to see that the writers of the film had to make the film more interesting because it would have been extremely boring. The Hungarian gangster was added because Ray and Gary had to collect money over a few years after the USA visit. Also if you think about it, the fake cameramen who did the interview could be the real cameraman and the Harry Dean Stanton character could be based on a fake.I can't believe that this movie is so underrated because it is both a British feel good comedy and leaves you thinking at the end whether the footage is another hoax or real proof of alien life. The people who have added negative comment on this film are being fickle because they are philistines who prefer Hollywood films and can't watch a film with no special effects or actors who have been in other big films.

Whilst this film has a slightly shaky start and took a while to find its pace, it is full of fun. There are plenty of plot twists, with a real belter at the end! The use of original US TV documentary footage within the film adds a nice authenticity, as does the US TV director interviewing Ant and Dec's characters throughout the film. The 'film within a film' structure worked well for me.The film shows the difficulties that the characters played by Ant and Dec faced - interpersonal, technical, and dealing with the world's media and more than the occasional nut case in the 'real world' - from which they were trying to show another world's refugee. The filming of the artifice itself is very funny, but was a little too sitcom to sit well with the rest of the movie for me.Viewers with a passing interest in the Roswell incident should love this - or by the same token maybe hate it.