The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human

Year: 1999

Actors: David Hyde Pierce, Lucy Liu, Marc Blucas, Carmen Electra

Duration: 88 min

An anthropologist from an alien planet provides voice-over commentary for a documentary look at human courtship, mating, and reproduction: "complex, perverse, tragically beautiful: the earthbound human." The commentary gets some of the details comically wrong (explaining the slap on a newborn's back: "they don't like the looks of the child so they beat it"), but gets right the overall idea. We follow Billy and Jenny from their meeting at a club, initial misunderstandings, his losing her phone number, finally connecting, walks on the beach, soulful talks, meeting each other's parents, friends' advice, and the gradual taking of the relationship to new levels.—

Genre: Comedy   Sci-Fi