When you get older, others (namely, those who are younger) don’t want to hear your complaints or your corrections. They zone out and, often, believe there’s something wrong with you.
That’s the dilemma Milton (Ben Kingsley) faces in “Jules,” a comedy about a 78-year-old who’s visited by an alien.
Upset at first (he did, after all, land in his azaleas), Milton realizes the visitor could be that welcoming creature that doesn’t seem to exist in Boonton, Pennsylvania.
When Milton goes to complain about the town slogan at a city council meeting, no one listens. When he asks his daughter for help, she thinks his mind is slipping. The outside forces come with too much baggage.
Ben Kingsley, Jane Curtin and Harriet Sansom Harris ponder the future of an alien in "Jules."
But the alien -- whom he dubs Jules -- is more than willing to sit and listen. Quickly, Milton discovers the visitor likes apples and has an ability to draw pictures of cats. But why?
Instead of asking others to intervene, he keeps Jules to himself and only shares him when two nosy neighbors (played by Jane Curtin and Harriet Sansom Harris) come calling. They see the alien’s merits and decide to help their friend protect the secret.
Still, men in suits lurk outside -- perhaps looking to capture Jules -- and that’s where the situation gets sticky.
As fanciful as it may seem, “Jules” is really a comment on aging and loneliness. It says plenty, too, about treating the elderly as disposable and it lets the three actors dig into something that’s far more subtle than you’d think.
When an alien lands in Pennsylvania, three senior citizens have to figure an exit strategy in "Jules."
Directed by Marc Turtletaub (and dedicated to his father), “Jules” is a charming film that should find a loving audience among the “Gran Torino” set. It taps into those mundane things that become big issues and dances around the necessity for something like assisted living. It’s a smart venture, too, that doesn’t require expensive special effects or high-tech tricks. ( Jules, in fact, is so low-end you think he’s a kid in a Halloween costume. His spaceship looks like it was used in “Plan 9 From Outer Space.”) But when the visitor and his host sit together on a couch, “Jules” is every bit as effective as “E.T.”
Kingsley uses a good American accent to play the role and has just enough pause to make you question Milton’s motives. Still, someone who’s 78 shouldn’t be viewed as having one foot in the grave.
From left, Jane Curtin, Harriet Sansom Harris, Ben Kingsley and Jade Quon star in "Jules."
Similarly, Curtin and Harris have problems that suggest someone is about a decade off in sizing up the senior citizen set.
When they join forces, “Jules” becomes the journey we never stopped to consider. It’s a charmer and, like those apples, food for thought.
Without a doubt, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” were the big surprises. “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3” showed there was still life in superhero films, and “Sound of Freedom" continues to do good business thanks to its word of mouth campaign.
