Strange Planet Movie Review

Ever wonder what Naomi Watts' real Aussie accent sounds like? Strange Planet is your best bet -- and you'll also get to see Matrix bad guy Hugo Weaving playing a very rare "old man dating younger girl" role.

In the film, that younger girl (Claudia Karvan), Watts, and Alice Garner, play a trio of Aussies looking for love in all the wrong places, natch, and three guys who we know will eventually be the recipients of that love. The focus is on the ladies though, thanks to their extreme neuroses. Watts is still nursing a years-old breakup, Karvan is of course trapped in an unhealthy relationship with Agent Smith. The guys have problems of their own, and before the year which Strange Planet follows is up, well, they'll all be resolved.

Perhaps the film is just too ambitious? It's broken up into 12 monthly "acts," and there are probably two too many characters to follow -- as the six protagonists are hounded by innumerable supporting players. Keeping it all straight just gets a little tricky, as I found myself reduced to tracking hair length as my primary means of telling the male characters apart (often unsuccessfully).

It's enough fun, but not even the sight of Watts getting medieval on a punching bag can keep us interested in yet another St. Elmo's Fire redux forever.