Jules

By Joanna Langfield

You might think a movie about an extra-terrestrial would have its head in the clouds. But this little charmer has its feet firmly planted on the ground and its heart wide open.

Ben Kingsley stars as Milton, a senior citizen who insists on addressing his small town’s City Council on a regular basis. Everybody thinks Milton is a bit of a kook, including his well-meaning daughter, who shows up when she can to see if her father just might be losing it. So when a UFO lands in Milton’s backyard, nobody takes Milton’s alarm seriously. Until his neighbors, played by the wonderful Harriet Sansom Harris and Jane Curtin, get a load of what’s now living next door.

Sure, the plot takes the usual path: the initially alarmed humans fall under the spell of the alien and make it their responsibility to assure its health and safety. They even do what it takes to get their new friend back home. We’ve seen this before. What we haven’t seen is that the humans, this time, are older, lonely people. These men and women have their issues, but their lives, as we see, are significantly improved when they allow someone in, to share their memories and the now.

There have been, thankfully, several recent films about older people. Unfortunately, many of them revolve around silly plots and offer up even sillier goofiness. While this movie could haven dissolved into the same, director Marc Turtletaub keeps the humor, as well as the pathos, real. And that’s a real treat.