Review: My Stepmother is an Alien (1988)
1988's My Stepmother is an Alien is a very strange movie that could only have been made in the 1980s. Part lusty sex comedy, part sincere family tale, it never really figures out what it wants to be. Its greatest success, and the reason to view the movie all these years later, is for the powerhouse performance from Kim Basinger. Coming just two years after her steamy, career-making turn in 9 1/2 Weeks , this movie takes a pretty big risk on Basinger, who must not only look stunning, but also be funny. Her comedic skills were not a known quantity in 1988, but lucky for us, she's hilarious. Playing up the fish-out-of-water (or alien-out-of-space) theme perfectly, Basinger soars as an intergalactic being who must convince a physicist to share his research with her so she can save her cosmic home. As she mingles at parties and tries to fit in with customs that are totally new to her, she's discovering everything for the first time with wonder and confusion. The 1990s sitcom 3...