Jared Pilvis (director Devin Crowley) has been watching too many “X-Files” episodes. Pilvis, a British, self-described “Filmmaker, Abduction Specialist,” believes that he was abducted and sexually probed by aliens as a child. Now a young adult obsessed by sex, he sets out with a ragged and reluctant two-man American documentary crew on a mostly amusing mission to uncover the truth. It’s a “journey of self-discovery” that takes Pilvis, among other places, to his native England, New York City, New Jersey, and, appropriately enough, that “Graceland of UFOlogy,” Roswell, New Mexico, all in an attempt to get to the bottom of the perceived alien anomaly at the core of Pilvis’ unraveling life.
Perhaps best remembered in Park City for the three guys promoting the film on Main Street in Mos Eisley-ish rubber alien masks and costumes, “Show Me the Aliens!” is significantly better than most mockumentaries. Crowley does an excellent job as the befuddled host and narrator, struggling to hold together his restless and unpaid slacker crew, working to parlay his perceived alien-induced sexual hang-ups into getting lucky, and dealing with a bizarre subplot concerning Mr. Borscht, a Jersey interviewee who falls in love with him. Crowley mostly plays it straight, even as the film becomes more and more absurd. Like its parent “Spinal Tap,” “Show Me the Aliens!” has a perceptible story arc as Pilvis’ journey de-evolves to the point where the twitching and tic-stricken host is pathetically interviewing himself. This would have been a much better film had it only been an hour long, as redundant filler needlessly padded much of the middle. Even so, this witty and silly diversion provided a pleasant change of pace from all the other overly self-important “serious” films crowding the various Festival “Dance” floors.
