MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Mom and Dad’ Can’t Be Saved From Its Script

In the title roles of “Mom and Dad Save the World” (citywide), Teri Garr and Jeffrey Jones--skillful actors both--can’t save this large-scale dud, yet another overwrought but uninspired fantasy in which all the wit is in the amusingly stylized sets and costumes rather than the script.

Garr and Jones are Marge and Dick Nelson, a middle-aged Woodland Hills couple. Dad is out of shape, lazy, dyspeptic and passionless; Mom is game but she seems to be copying Dustin Hoffman’s “Tootsie” with her frumpy hair style and glasses. While driving down a deserted side road toward a weekend getaway in Santa Barbara, the Nelsons suddenly find their station wagon flying through air, whisked off to a distant planet. It seems that its obtuse, obnoxious dictator Tod Spengo (Jon Lovitz, who deserves credit for his unflagging energy), while aiming his Death Ray at Earth, has spotted Marge doing her exercises by the back-yard pool and fallen instantly, madly in love with her; the destruction of Earth and the conquest of the universe can wait.

The slight point of all the glum silliness that ensues is that there’s nothing like a bit of adventure to spice up a midlife marriage. This particular escapade allows writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon to spoof (with heavy hands indeed) such vintage fare as the old Flash Gordon serials and literature’s ancient myths in which the brave hero slays dragons (or the equivalent) to save the beautiful princess from the villain. (But hasn’t this already been done definitively--and affectionately--in the “Star Wars” movies?)

The script’s running gag, alas, is that the Nelsons have landed on a planet of idiots; the oppressed common people are as stupid as Tod. Maybe the writers intended a bit of allegory here, but the effect is to reduce considerably the challenge Mom and Dad face in saving the world. Matheson and Solomon can’t hope to duplicate the popularity of “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and its sequel, which they wrote.

As with the writing, Greg Beeman’s direction has more condescension than affection; Beeman showed more promise in his 1988 feature debut, the rowdy teen comedy “License to Drive.” “Mom and Dad Save the World” (rated PG for mild adult situations) trashes genres and forms that nevertheless remain vastly more entertaining. The filmmakers don’t seem to realize that if you’re going to be deliberately crass, you’d better be nothing less than hilarious.

‘Mom and Dad Save the World’

Teri Garr: Marge Nelson

Jeffrey Jones: Dick Nelson

Jon Lovitz: Emperor Tod Spengo

Thalmus Rasulala: General

A Warner Bros. release of an HBO presentation in association with Cinema Plus, L.P., and Mercury/Douglas Films. Director Greg Beeman. Producer Michael Phillips. Screenplay by Chris Matheson, Ed Solomon. Cinematographer Jacques Haitkin. Editor W.O. Garrett. Costumes Robyn Reicheck. Music Jerry Goldsmith. Production design Craig Stearns. Art director Randy Moore. Set designer Bill Rea. Set decorator Dorree Cooper. Sound James Thorton. Running time: 1 hour, 29 minutes.

MPAA-rated PG (for mild adult situations).