---
title: "Earth Girls Are Easy"
year: 1988
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/earth-girls-are-easy"
fi1m_id: "earth-girls-are-easy"
imdb_id: "tt0097257"
tmdb_id: 2210
wikidata_id: "Q169372"
fi1m_score: 74
critics_score: 70
critics_reviews: 8
published: "2026-10-04T20:51:05.361307+00:00"
updated: "2026-10-04T20:51:05.839961+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)

Directed by Julien Temple · 1h 40m · MPA PG · Comedy, Science Fiction, Romance

## Identity

Earth Girls Are Easy

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/earth-girls-are-easy
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** earth-girls-are-easy
- **IMDb ID:** tt0097257
- **TMDB ID:** 2210
- **Wikidata ID:** Q169372
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097257/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/2210, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q169372

**Fi1m score: 74** · Critics 70 from 8 reviews

*In a sentence:* For once, the aliens have landed somewhere that makes them look comparatively sensible

> Julien Temple’s science-fiction musical is silly, colourful and carried by Geena Davis’s comic warmth. The jokes are uneven and the story loses shape, but it is worth an evening if the prospect of musical aliens appeals.

## Synopsis

Valerie Gail (Geena Davis) wants to find Mr Right in Los Angeles, where alien visitors are struggling to understand the local culture. Her romantic search shares the story with Mac (Jeff Goldblum), Wiploc (Jim Carrey) and Zeebo (Damon Wayans), as well as Candy Pink (Julie Brown) and Dr. Ted Gallagher (Charles Rocket). The Valley provides the setting for encounters between locals and newcomers who do not know its customs. Misunderstandings complicate the business of fitting in, while musical numbers interrupt a story of romance and life on an unfamiliar planet.

## Review

*Earth Girls Are Easy* is a cheerful science-fiction romance with enough good jokes to excuse some slack storytelling. Julien Temple treats the arrival of aliens in Los Angeles as an opportunity for musical comedy, without burdening the visit with solemn wondering about humanity. The attraction is watching these newcomers encounter a culture already given to conspicuous behaviour. We recommend it with a warning that the silliness works much better in some scenes than others.

Geena Davis gives Valerie Gail enough warmth to keep the romance from disappearing beneath the noise. Her comic performance is alert without seeming pleased with itself, and she makes a useful centre for a film so easily distracted by its surroundings. We care about Valerie finding someone worth the trouble, which is a considerable advantage in a comedy this thinly plotted. The script gives her less to work with than the performance suggests.

Julie Brown is another reason to stay, playing Candy Pink and sharing the writing credit with Terrence E. McNally and Charlie Coffey. The sharpest lines have a casual nastiness that suits this setting, but the film seldom feels cruel towards the people delivering them. Not all the jokes land, and too many seem satisfied simply to announce that the situation is peculiar. The writing is more dependable when somebody says something foolish with complete assurance.

Dennis Gassner’s production design gives the Valley a hot-pastel brightness that makes the visitors’ confusion understandable: there is already plenty to take in before any science fiction enters. Oliver Stapleton photographs those colours with enough force to make the setting a sustained source of pleasure. It is deliberately tacky, and the film understands that making tackiness attractive takes care. The look holds our interest even when a gag has been allowed more room than it deserves.

We laughed at the confidence of *’Cause I’m a Blonde*, which turns the celebration of being dim into an exuberant musical joke. The number gives the film a clear comic target and enough invention to keep finding fresh ways of approaching it. Nile Rodgers supplies the music, but the songs are not always mixed clearly enough, leaving some of the musical comedy less immediate than it should be. When so much depends on a number landing cleanly, that is a frustrating fault.

Richard Halsey’s editing cannot give the later stretches the direction they need. The film grows loose, with the feeling that another comic diversion is being offered because the story has run out of useful business. At 100 minutes, it is not an onerous commitment, but the uneven rhythm makes it feel longer than this material warrants. There are stretches where the enthusiasm of the presentation asks us to overlook how little the next joke adds.

The fish-out-of-water comedy works because Los Angeles gives the newcomers plenty of reasons to be baffled. The film does little to examine Valley life, and expecting sharp social satire will only make the thin patches more tiresome. Its pleasures are modest and, thanks to Geena Davis, warmer than the title might suggest. Expect a few stretches where the colours have to do the entertaining.

*Fi1m score 74, published 4 October 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews lean favourable to mixed, with praise clustering around the film’s bright colours, kitsch science-fiction trappings and breezy comedy. Geena Davis’s comic performance draws particular approval, while Radio Times also singles out Julie Brown and the sharp one-liners. The aliens’ adjustment to Los Angeles culture supplies another source of amusement. Even some qualified responses find the film lively and watchable, with its visual style earning more consistent approval than its material.

Reservations centre on thin writing and uneven execution. Empire points to dud jokes and poorly mixed songs, while The AV Club’s otherwise enthusiastic response finds the closing stretch sloppy and random. Time Out questions how well the silliness captures Valley Girl life. The spread runs from affectionate enthusiasm to qualified enjoyment, with no outright negative verdicts in the supplied ratings, though two reviews lack accessible text to establish their reasoning.

## Straight answers

**Is Earth Girls Are Easy worth watching?**

*Earth Girls Are Easy* is worth watching if colourful musical comedy and alien misunderstandings appeal; we score it 74 out of 100. Geena Davis gives the thin romance warmth, and the deliberately tacky Valley setting is a pleasure, though the jokes are uneven and the later stretches drift.

**How long is Earth Girls Are Easy, and what is it rated?**

*Earth Girls Are Easy* runs 1h 40m and is rated PG by the MPA in the US. It is a comedy and science fiction film.

**Where can I watch Earth Girls Are Easy in the US?**

*Earth Girls Are Easy* is streaming on Tubi and The Roku Channel in the US. It leaves Tubi on 1 October. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How does Earth Girls Are Easy compare to Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown?**

*Earth Girls Are Easy* offers loose science-fiction musical silliness, while [*Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown*](https://film.one/film/women-on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown) is the better choice for romantic farce. Both favour bright colours and comic women who hold our interest, but we find Geena Davis compensating for a thin story where Carmen Maura keeps an occasionally overbusy plot engaging.

**What should I watch after Earth Girls Are Easy?**

After *Earth Girls Are Easy*, try [*Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown*](https://film.one/film/women-on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown) (1988, Fi1m 84): Bright colours, romantic confusion and comic women given room to take charge. Then [*The Young Girls of Rochefort*](https://film.one/film/the-young-girls-of-rochefort) (1967, Fi1m 84): For the pastel colours and romantic longing, with much surer musical footing; and [*Strictly Ballroom*](https://film.one/film/strictly-ballroom) (1992, Fi1m 83): Equally fond of gaudy surroundings, but more disciplined about earning its romance.

### Reviews we read (8)

- **The AV Club**, Nathan Rabin (85/100, inferred): Rabin calls the film a kitschy, inspired trifle and a guilty pleasure worth rediscovering. He especially praises Geena Davis’s comic performance, while noting that the film becomes sloppy and random toward the end. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/my-year-of-flops-totally-bitchin-case-file-121-earth-1798215159)
- **Radio Times**, Alan Jones (4/5): Jones calls it an enormously entertaining, breezy musical comedy. He praises Geena Davis and Julie Brown, along with its bitchy one-liners and frothy fantasy. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-5444uy/earth-girls-are-easy/)
- **Time Out**, CM (70/100, inferred): The review presents the film as a zany musical, though its tone is crass, silly and tacky. It suggests the film struggles to depict the complexities of being a Valley Girl. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/earth-girls-are-easy)
- **Variety**, Variety Staff (70/100, inferred): The review presents the film as a lively, glitzy fish-out-of-water farce. It singles out the hot-pastel design and the aliens’ comic adaptation to Los Angeles culture. [Read](https://variety.com/1987/film/reviews/earth-girls-are-easy-1200427598/)
- **Empire**, Kim Newman (65/100, inferred): Newman finds the comedy hit-and-miss but the film vibrant and watchable. He praises its colourful Valley setting and kitsch sci-fi trappings, while noting dud jokes and poorly mixed songs. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/earth-girls-easy-review/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, MICHAEL WILMINGTON (65/100, inferred): Wilmington finds the film’s material thin but ultimately praises Julien Temple’s dazzling visual style. He singles out the “ ‘Cause I’m a Blonde” sequence as an especially inventive high point. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-05-12-ca-3172-story.html)
- **RogerEbert.com** (64/100, inferred): The page could not be read, so the critic’s verdict is unavailable. No praised or criticized element can be verified from the supplied page. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/earth-girls-are-easy-1989)
- **The New York Times**, Janet Maslin (64/100, inferred): The page identifies a review of the matching film, but its critical verdict cannot be verified from the blocked text. The review’s specific praise or complaint is likewise unavailable. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/12/movies/review-film-on-shaving-furry-aliens-turn-into-valley-guys.html)

## Details

- **Director:** Julien Temple
- **Director:** Julien Temple
- **Writer:** Terrence E. McNally, Julie Brown, Charlie Coffey
- **Cinematography:** Oliver Stapleton
- **Editor:** Richard Halsey
- **Music:** Nile Rodgers
- **Production design:** Dennis Gassner
- **Producer:** Tony Garnett
- **Cast:** Geena Davis as Valerie Gail; Jeff Goldblum as Mac; Jim Carrey as Wiploc; Damon Wayans as Zeebo; Julie Brown as Candy Pink; Michael McKean as Woody; Charles Rocket as Dr. Ted Gallagher; Larry Linville as Dr. Bob
- **Runtime:** 1h 40m
- **Certificate (MPA):** PG
- **Release (the US):** 12 May 1989
- **Genres:** Comedy, Science Fiction, Romance
- **Budget:** $10 million
- **Box office:** $4 million

## Where to watch in the US

- Tubi: free, hd, leaving 2026-10-01
- The Roku Channel: add-on, hd, leaving 2026-11-01

*Checked 2026-10-04.*

Also available in: CA, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress 1990: Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *The Brother from Another Planet* (1984): Another visitor makes human customs look peculiar, with sharper social observation.
- *Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown* (1988), Fi1m 84: Bright colours, romantic confusion and comic women given room to take charge. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/women-on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown.md)
- *The Young Girls of Rochefort* (1967), Fi1m 84: For the pastel colours and romantic longing, with much surer musical footing. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-young-girls-of-rochefort.md)
- *Strictly Ballroom* (1992), Fi1m 83: Equally fond of gaudy surroundings, but more disciplined about earning its romance. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/strictly-ballroom.md)
- *Galaxy Quest* (1999): Affectionate science-fiction silliness with a tighter script and a similarly game cast.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/earth-girls-are-easy